A system and method for providing end-to-end security of content over a heterogeneous distribution chain is provided. A content owner provides content to an aggregator that receives the content and processes the content. The processing may involve decrypting the content and associating at least one of a unique fingerprint and a watermark to the decrypted content. The unique fingerprint and a watermark to the decrypted content provide identifying characteristics to the content. Additional content-based fingerprints may be used to monitor quality of consumer experience for Video and Audio. The content may be sent in a decrypted state to a client or in an encrypted state. When the content is encrypted the aggregator wraps and encrypts the content with a signature such that an end-to-end flow of the content may be determined. Application Level encryption is used to provide network/distribution medium transparency as well as persistent encryption. When the content is transmitted from a consumer to another consumer the transmitting consumer loses rights to the content.