The objective of this paper as an effort to gather actual security requirements from major content owners and describe them in a single document. The intent is to help pay-TV operators and other video service providers that are looking to launch multi-screen video services, so that they know what to expect and avoid any unpleasant surprises with regard to security requirements when licensing content to offer through their services.

To help navigate this landscape, we developed a paper that will serve as a content licensing and security guide for video service providers planning multi-network, multi-screen services. We teamed with Bill Rosenblatt, founder of GiantSteps Media Technology Strategies, who has been steeped in digital rights and content management technologies for many years and has served as technical expert in litigation and public policy initiatives related to digital copyright.

Steve Christian, VP Marketing at Verimatrix provides the DRM / Conditional Access perspective of OTT TV as part of an IBC 2011 special blog series. Verimatrix is the leader in software-based security solutions for service providers.

While non-proprietary security standards may seem counter-intuitive (how can an open standard provide the right level of security to deliver high value content?), there are multiple benefits and clear value associated with a multi-vendor DRM scheme. These benefits have no doubt been amplified by recent progress on the fronts of multiple standards – plus the dramatically expanding landscape of multiple screens ideal for consuming video content.

As IBC draws closer, we find ourselves reflecting on the trends that have been reinforced since IBC 2010, and anticipating the prevailing themes of the conversations at IBC 2011.

Since last year’s show, it seems the digital TV industry has entered a new period of pragmatism and commercial maturity. This feels like a welcome period of stabilization after the recent cycles of hype following OTT’s emergence as a viable new technical option for service delivery.

So if you’re in Amsterdam next month, drop by our stand, say hello and share your thoughts with us on the trends here and at @verimatrixinc that will define IBC 2011 and pave the way for the IBC 2012.

We recently announced the availability of our new StreamMark server-side watermarking solution, which we demonstrated at CableNET 2011. StreamMark has tremendous potential to help shape the market for premium video on demand (VoD) content. Yes, we realize early release windows and watermarking have been discussed, debated and hyped for many years. But premium VoD has been revitalized ever since the FCC’s ruling allowing selectable output control (SOC) for set-top boxes in the U.S.

An increased number of portable and mobile devices are driving consumer interest in video on the go. Consumers are demanding access to preferred content across devices, anywhere and anytime. However, for service providers and content owners to be able to provide these services in a profitable manner, the content must first be secure. In addition, as new revenue models develop, the content protection must offer increased flexibility and the ability to follow complex rules. This webinar explores the new requirements for effective rights management and content protection in a multiplatform world.

The distinction between multi-screen TV and TV will eventually disappear as all video services inherently incorporate any device where we want to consume content. The challenge is to make multi-screen services more scalable, which requires advances in headends, networks, content rights and revenue protection.

An increased number of portable and mobile devices are driving consumer interest in video on the go. Consumers are demanding access to preferred content across devices, anywhere and anytime. However, for service providers and content owners to be able to provide these services in a profitable manner, the content must first be secure. In addition, as new revenue models develop, the content protection must offer increased flexibility and the ability to follow complex rules. This webinar explores the new requirements for effective rights management and content protection in a multiplatform world.

We recognize that we are still in the early days of developing the business environment for adaptive rate streaming and OTT video services – which is why we are organizing the Capitalizing on OTT Breakfast Forum the morning of March 22 just down from the IP&TV World Forum.