The apparatus disclosed herein, in various aspects, includes a
digital asset, and an amulet that comprises an encrypted self-validating string. The amulet may be external to the
digital asset. The apparatus may include a manager that cooperates securely with the
digital asset and cooperates securely with the amulet to control access to the digital asset as specified by the amulet. In some aspects, the manager cooperates with the digital asset and with the amulet, at least in part, through
shared memory in process space. In other aspects, the manager cooperates with the digital asset and with the amulet, at least in part, through a
RAM drive in memory, the
RAM drive at least partially hidden from an
operating system of the computer. In yet other aspects, the manager cooperates with the digital asset and with the amulet, at least in part, through a
virtual machine accessible only by said apparatus. The amulet, the manager, and the digital asset are either operably receivable by a computer or are operably received by the computer, in various aspects. Related methods and compositions of matter are also disclosed.This Abstract is presented to meet requirements of 37 C.F.R. § 1.72(b) only. This Abstract is not intended to identify key elements of the apparatus, methods, and compositions of matter disclosed herein or to delineate the scope of this disclosure.