As the dust finally settles from NAB, I’d like to reflect on the key themes we saw from this year’s show.  As we have witnessed at many shows earlier this year multi-network, multi-screen video services have continued to serve as “must have” features on the roadmap of service operators.  In the past year or so, we have seen multi-screen evolve from somewhat of an experiment to an absolute requirement to become (or remain) competitive.  While many of the issues surrounding DRM are being resolved, content security remains a critical, and complex piece of the puzzle.  There’s an increasing awareness of what it takes to provide comprehensive content and revenue security, but our industry as a whole needs to continue to work to ensure that content is protected from end-to-end.

• Multi-screen security was quite the hot topic at the latest installment of our Multi-Network Solutions in the Real World series, where an esteemed panel of industry experts from Sony Pictures, Harmonic and Akamai, discussed the trends that are currently shaping today’s multi-screen, multi-network deployments.  The panel provided detailed examples of real world deployments, including those related to content rights management and delivery standards, such as MPEG-DASH. Spencer Stephens of Sony did a great job of portraying the complexity of the ecosystem required to deploy these advanced services. Check out the video interviews with the panelists.

• Standards MPEG-DASH, UltraViolet & HTML 5 have made great strides in simplifying life for both the content provider or operator as well as the CE vendor.  As those standards gel, and a common set of business rules is developed, the numbers of interconnections that need to be made is reduced, greatly simplifying the delivery of premium content.

• A common topic during press and analyst briefings was leveraging device authentication for HLS as a cornerstone of the Verimatrix enhanced HLS security.  We are very excited about this approach as it meets studio requirements to assure that subscriber account credentials are not being illegitimately shared. (more…)

As discussed in my last post, HLS was quite the hot topic at IP&TV World Forum this year.  HLS is rapidly gaining momentum as the standard streaming format of choice for over-the-top (OTT) video services across the broadest range of device types.  Since it is an open protocol, many solutions  and techniques are available to further optimize commercial grade service delivery. In my article for Digital TV Europe’s IP&TV World Forum Show Daily, which I’ve excerpted below, I explore the use of device authentication in combination with HLS.

Authentication mechanics for commercial video services rest on two principals: determining the integrity of the requesting entity, and authenticity of the client device.  Authentication ensures that client devices are attached to paying customers, and helps guarantee that only bona fide subscribers are able to watch protected content. After a specific content item is selected by the consumer, a simultaneous transaction occurs to obtain the necessary keys, where the unique local certificate validates the identity of the specific client involved. If the keys are legitimately available, the protected stream deliveries can be decrypted for viewing. (more…)

Just a few weeks ago, our team had the pleasure of attending IP&TV World Forum in London.  As always, the conference proved to be an excellent indicator of the trends that are shaping the IP video services industry today.  Perhaps the most prominent trend from our perspective (and the topic that came up repeatedly in meeting after meeting) was the proliferation of HTTP Live Streaming (HLS).  We actually wrote an article on optimizing HLS security for Digital TV Europe’s IP&TV World Forum Show Daily, which we’ve excerpted below.

Optimizing HLS security for Both Consumers and Service Providers

The HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) adaptive bitrate protocol is rapidly gaining momentum as the standard streaming format of choice for over-the-top (OTT) video services across the broadest range of device types.  However, while the HLS protocol incorporates a baseline security model for service delivery, it does not itself define a complete solution for streaming high-value protected content.  (more…)

A recent business trip took me through San Francisco International Airport, where I stumbled upon the Television: TV in the Antenna Age exhibit.  From my perspective, the most interesting part of the exhibit is the section on the evolution of screen sizes.  

The first black and white TVs in the 1920s had a screen size of about 4 inches. As the technology improved, screens grew to 10 inches, and later on to 20 inches. Then color TVs were introduced in the 1950s with a whopping screen size of 7 inches.  As technology continued to mature, screen size increased again to 20 – 30 inches.

As I was strolling through the exhibit, I was struck by the similarities between the evolution of TVs and mobile devices.  For example, do you remember when the first mobile devices started receiving TV streams?  Those mobile phones had a screen of three inches or so.  However, as the over-the-top (OTT) industry – or broadband TV industry as Jon Cody proposed at the OTTCON in Santa Clara last week – industry evolved, it had to invent tablets with seven to twelve inch screens and eventually connected TVs with 30, 40, 50, etc. inches.

It seems clear to me that history is repeating itself, or perhaps evolving in a spiral. Indeed, the same seems to be happening with content protection. We started with analog conditional access systems more than two decades ago, and evolved to digital conditional systems. As content value and quality increased, additional requirements for output control and copy protection were imposed by content owners.

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We kicked off our series with some general observation on digital TV security and then explored the benefits of a smart card-based security system vs. a cardless system, but what does all of it mean for the average Indian cable operator?

For Indian cable operators it is imperative to choose a security architecture that supports both the immediate analog-to-digital transition while also laying a sound foundation for the future – a future that may include delivery to PCs and Macs, games consoles, smart phones, tablets and other mobile devices.

Aspiring cable operators ultimately should strive to implement a CA/DRM system that can serve as a unified revenue security platform for services destined to reach multiple screens across multiple networks. They will want a solution that can draw on the best of encryption, conditional access, digital rights management and video watermarking techniques to dynamically apply whatever types of security are appropriate to each service, no matter which delivery network is used, and no matter what type of subscriber device is used to access it.

In fact, handling rights and subscriber management for different DRM systems (more…)

As discussed in our previous post, the upcoming digitalization of cable TV networks in India is one of the largest undertakings of its kind. Here we turn to the most efficient ways of securing premium content.

Licensing of quality (“premium”) content is the cornerstone of a successful pay-TV enterprise. For movie studios and other content providers the threat of large-scale piracy, which could undermine the lifetime revenue potential of their products, is a major concern. Moreover, the commercial stakes for HD content are significantly higher than those of SD – and 3D has been added to the mix in some parts of the world.

And of course content providers are focused on enforcing digital rights through a combination of technological and legal processes. Rights owners and pay-TV operators alike expect digital TV security vendors to address the evolving challenges through a set of technologies and tools that encompass complete revenue security, during content creation, storage, delivery, and consumption – and beyond the network too.

In this respect, Indian cable TV operators planning for the digital transition will benefit from choosing a security vendor that is well known among, and trusted by, the content providers. Perhaps the most important consideration is the vendor’s record of pay-TV operator deployments around the world.  It is particularly important to consider the vendors’ track record is helping operators migrate from a smart card- based security system to a cardless system. (more…)

The upcoming digitalization of cable TV networks in India is one of the largest undertakings of its kind in the world. It presents operators and technology vendors with challenges and opportunities like never before in the history of television in India. However, digital TV delivery technologies, while offering opportunities for subscriber and revenue growth, also present new content and revenue security challenges.

As Indian cable TV operators go through the analog-to-digital transition, they must proactively plan for and address a unique set of technology issues. Ultimately, the objective is to choose a security policy and technology path that minimizes costs without sacrificing the ability to meet service (revenue) requirements in the long run. The choice of security technology is both critical and fundamental to the future competitiveness and financial performance of Indian cable TV operators.

While Indian cable operators consider and plan for the transition from analog to digital, it behooves them to consider in parallel the value brought by digital TV security providers.

Indian cable TV operators, whether small or large, would be well-suited to realize that a flexible and effective digital TV security architecture can be an essential enabler of innovative business models and improve their competitiveness. The choice of the overall security solution is therefore a critical strategic decision. This consideration also shifts the perspective of the security technology from traditional content protection to the broader concept of revenue security.

We think that revenue security is really at the core of this transition, and therefore will be developing a series of posts exploring the challenges facing the undertaking (and our thoughts on possible solutions).  We’ll address digital TV security considerations, explore security issues from a content owners’ perspective, and provide some practical guidance on revenue security.

We’ll be at the SCaT Workshops Mumbai, 15-16 March 2012 at the Hotel Taj Vivanta President in Mumbai, India.  There, we will be hosting the next installment of our Multi-Network Solutions in the Real World forum series during the workshops on 15 March 2012 at 16:15.

During the session, we’ll explore new advanced options for addressable digital video security systems that provide flexibility during new network deployments or upgrades of existing digital networks.  In particular, we will explore how such solutions can provide cost effective scalable configurations for smaller deployments that can be upgraded to full multi-network head-ends in a seamless manner. We hope you can join us!

If you are attending the Workshop, please chime in below and let us know which particular topics you would like to see covered.

With our inaugural “Multi-Network Solutions in the Real World” Forum under our belts  we’re now looking forward to our next Forum, which will be hosted at CABSAT in Dubai on February 29^th (hence the “leaping” into CABSAT).

Verimatrix has enjoyed a series of operator success stories in the Gulf region, with the crown jewels being the Etisalat eVision IPTV and eLife OTT services. Our collaboration with some of the leading infrastructure and technology vendors has built leading multi-network services that address not only the UAE, but also deliver multi-lingual pay-service content to a global audience.

I’ll be sharing some of the details behind these successful deployments, specifically focusing on how operators can unify subscribers’ multi-screen experience across networks and devices.  In addition, we’ll explore the obstacles that could impede a successful deployment –such as different security systems for different networks — and how to overcome them by developing a unified multi-network security operation.

I’m also delighted to have of our partners Envivio and NXP Software joining us, along with Adriana Whitely from the specialist digital TV consultancy Farncombe.  This will certainly be a lively event full of practical information.

If you’re attending CABSAT, please join us. More information on the event, including the full agenda, can be found here.

For an in-person look at the award-winning Etisalat deployment, you can drop by our booth #S1-K13, where we will be demonstrating our Verimatrix Video Content Authority Solution (VCAS™) 3, the revenue security solution behind Etisalat’s eVision and eLife services.

See you in Dubai!

In 2006, Verimatrix celebrated surpassing its 1 millionth screen protected by our VCAS revenue security solutions, which was a significant milestone for our young, start-up company.

Just this month, I am proud to say we hit another major milestone that reflects as much on the entire digital video industry, as it does on Verimatrix. We celebrated reaching 500+ pay-TV operator customers and securing more than 20 million screens. (For additional milestones, read about our global number one ranking in Content Protection/DRM in MRG’s IPTV Market Leader report – for 5 1/2 consecutive  years!)

A large part of our tremendous growth has been due to the pay-TV planets colliding. Back in 2006, virtually all of our customers were delivering green field IPTV services over managed networks. Fast forward six years, our heritage in IP-based security techniques has placed Verimatrix in the center of this collision.

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I’m constantly being asked what differentiates Verimatrix.  In truth, it’s many things: our talented team, our commitment to excellence, our ability to “think outside the box.”  But one theme cuts across all of these different assets, and that’s our continuing dedication to innovation.  Innovation isn’t just an abstract goal here at Verimatrix; it’s something that pervades our work days (and nights) and is always at the very forefront of our minds.

How can we provide our customers with the most innovative solutions for securing and enhancing revenue for multi-network digital TV services on the market today?

This month, Verimatrix has been recognized for our innovation by two separate entities, both distinguished in their own right.

During CES 2012, our MultiRights solution won the Content Protection category at the prestigious 2012 TV Innovation Awards.  Very exciting news, especially considering the source of the award.  Now in its third year and administered by IMS Research, the 2012 TV Innovation Awards are one of the premier endorsements of innovation in television. The awards recognize the most forward-thinking companies that are creating products and services to change the way people watch television.  We are thrilled that Verimatrix was honored as one of these companies.

We feel that this commitment to innovation has also contributed to our sustained market leadership in software-based security. In December, MRG released its bi-annual IPTV Market Leaders Report that named Verimatrix in the top position. This marks the 11th consecutive time that we have maintained our market share in IPTV, representing 5 ½ years of Verimatrix global leadership.

Not a bad way to ring in the New Year!  We are thrilled to kick off 2012 on such a high note and look forward to continuing our relentless innovation in multi-network and multi-screen content protection and revenue security. Our philosophy is that if we offer our customers innovative solutions for securing and enhancing revenue on their multi-network digital TV services, we help them to market leadership positions in their own business. Their success becomes our success.