Utimaco provides hardware security modules. These boxes are used in public key infrastructures. It is used to authenticate the end-to-end process of music recording.
What does that mean? Why does MQA need public key encryption? Don’t tell me, that artists can authenticate …
It is more like this: You can always copy the file, but once the certificate is expired, you cannot play it in HiRes anymore. Then you have to yearly renew the certificate. It becomes a yearly fee to play HiRes music. For the big players in the music industry it also has the advantage, that they don’t have to hand out HiRes files to everyone, which can be copied and played without control.
You can only play the file in HiRes, if you payed your fee.
If your DAC does not have the right certificate applied, you only play LowRes.