The StarForce Content service, as it is known, is billed as offering a fast and easy-to-use method of protecting intellectual property by providing copy protection for PDF, PPT and HTML files.

According to the firm, the service prevents unauthorised viewers using screen grabbers or the ‘print screen’ button to capture text from their monitor screens and obtain digital versions of the documents.

StarForce Content, says the company, makes it possible to prevent unauthorised copying of electronic books, presentations, manuals, academic works, research papers, audit reports, training notes, lectures, etc. It is possible to protect either a single file or a batch of files at once.

Secured documents can be distributed on any physical media and over the internet. To view a document the end-user has to enter a serial number that defines his or her rights to access the document content.

However, notes the firm, the secured content comes in the form of an all-in-one package that means the end-user does not need to install additional viewing applications to be able to access the document.

The Russian company says it is offering a 30-day free trial of its technology to organisations wanting to evaluate the service.