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And stop by our booth at IBC 2011 – 4.B54!

There are many industry pundits that are skeptical of this initiative – for all the reasons people are skeptical of any industry consortium. Not all the major players are supporting it (Disney, Apple); there are too many players involved to make any significant progress; who is pushing their own agenda above the benefit of the group; will it actually work.

One decision the DECE has made, which we feel is critical to the success of Ultraviolet, is the DRM schemes it has chosen to support. To be sure, there are three proprietary DRM technologies on the list – Microsoft’s PlayReady, Adobe Access, and Widevine’s unnamed offering. But they’ve also approved Marlin and OMA as open, non-proprietary DRM standards.

It’s easy to see the advantages of a multi-vendor DRM scheme, especially as we stand knee-deep in the TV Everywhere hype. Although detractors point to the pressing need for accountability and responsiveness in a market that is highly dynamic to say the least, we feel such open DRM standards can go a long way to help enable the type of consumer choice that all digital TV operators are aiming for.

In fact, we see the decision to support multiple standards closely mirrors our MultiRights approach. In short, MultiRights mediates different DRM technologies on multiple devices through a single set of subscriber entitlements interfaces and Web services APIs. Our strong support of the Marlin standard as a key component of this architecture is one key proof-of-concept for our MultiRights approach.

Case in point, although Project Canvas announced it will also support multiple DRM schemes, it has strategically decided to launch with only Marlin. According to an article by Philip Hunter in Videonet, “The DRM was the most important and contentious technology choice facing Canvas, having to meet conflicting objectives. On the one hand, it has to satisfy the BBC Trust’s stipulations for openness and universal access, and on the other make the Internet sufficiently secure to deliver high value premium content from movie studios and others.”

It is Marlin’s support for open standards, flexibility and market acceptance that pushed it to the top of Project Canvas’ list.

What are your thoughts? Has Verimatrix chosen to support the most promising technology in the Ultraviolet boat or are proprietary DRM schemes likely to leave these new promising initiatives stranded in port?

Post #3:  Consumer Subsidized TV: The Role of More Open Standards

The era of the dedicated set-top box (STB) for each service to a TV is definitely coming to an end. What is emerging is a picture that involves a series of platforms that can support service specific applications or widgets selected and managed by the consumer. These platforms may themselves be based around standards such that service operators can create the applications that engage the consumer.

In certain kinds of systems, for instance the DirecTV view of the home media server, standards are only necessary to be able to share the content, they are not necessary to manage the device itself.  That device, therefore, can be a completely proprietary system that is wholly owned and subsided by the network or system operator. It is most likely produced exclusively for that network operator, just like traditional STBs have been. 

IP-based standards in such platforms also allows operators to cost-effectively deploy a security system and business rules that can satisfy all demands of content owners while creating the transparent usage model that consumers demand.

We believe that IP and the sophisticated protocols built on IP are the common building blocks to make digital convergence happen inside the home.

One such standards activity is the Open IPTV Forum – a cooperative of technology companies that is seeking to create an end to end platform for the delivery of IP video services. Another recent initiative is Project Canvas propelled by the BBC in the UK.  A standard becomes important like this when it can enable multi-vendor participation. 

As members of both the Open IPTV Forum and Digital TV (DTG), among several other standards consortiums, we are seeing the central role that IP-based technologies are taking. However, we feel that a key component to these specifications is the ability to generate revenue. Creating the right experience that consumers are willing to pay for will most certainly generate continued innovation.

We are watching Project Canvas and others like HbbTV closely, like the rest of the industry.

Stop by our booth at CommunicAsia to discuss the current standards in Asia Pacific.