A rights issuer is an entity of a content provider that assigns permissions and constraints to DRM content and generates rights objects. A content issuer is an entity that delivers DRM content. OMA DRM defines the format of DRM content delivered to DRM agents and the way DRM content can be transported from a content issuer to a DRM agent using several transport mechanisms, such as MMS or Bluetooth. The content issuer may do the actual packaging of DRM content, or it may receive prepackaged content from some other source, such as another content provider.
Depending on the deployment, the rights issuer and content issuer roles may be played by the same or different actors, and implemented by the same or different network nodes. For example, in one deployment, content owners may prepackage DRM content, which is then distributed by a content distributor acting as both content issuer and rights issuer.