RENDERING DIGITAL CONTENT IN A CONTENT PROTECTION SYSTEM ACCORDING TO A PLURALITY OF CHAINED DIGITAL LICENSES

A request to render encrypted content is received and a chain of licenses corresponding to the content is located. The chain includes a leaf license linked to the content at one end of the chain, a root license at the other end of the chain, and any intermediate licenses therebetween. The leaf license and any intermediate licenses in the chain are each bound to the adjoining license in the chain toward the root license, and the root license is bound to an owner of a private key (PR-U). For each license in the chain, the license is verified and it is confirmed that the license allows the content to be rendered. A decryption key is obtained from the leaf license based on application of (PR-U) to the root license, the obtained key is applied to decrypt the encrypted content, and the decrypted content is rendered.