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• 29-Jul-2010 by John Moulding
• Any screen TV needs flexible security
• Convergence TV

To achieve the multiplatform, multi-screen TV vision, flexibility is going to be essential for content security. Security vendors who once focused on providing end-to-end protection of content over managed networks have developed solutions for in-home and out of home video distribution to the the PC, mobiles and other personal CE devices. It is possible to use a single CA or DRM to the point of consumption on various CE retail products, but that is unlikely to give a Pay TV operator the universal device reach they will eventually need.

As Andrew Wajs, CTO at Irdeto (which provides a range of content protection solutions for pay media) points out, the CE industry is looking for standards and nobody can expect to get their own DRM into every device that is manufactured. So security vendors must be ready to work with popular DRMs and with successful standards initiatives designed to create device interoperability. This includes DLNA DTCP-IP copy protection technology.

Marlin, which stems from cooperation between Intertrust, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung and Sony, is viewed as a good prospect for enabling interoperability of content and rights management between devices. This has been adopted by the Open IPTV Forum as a DRM standard. Marlin is the underlying DRM in Sony’s PlayStation Network, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable services and is also one of five DRMs approved by DECE (Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem) to support its efforts to establish an open market for digital content distribution.

Illustrating the kind of flexibility now required, Verimatrix demonstrated at IBC last year how its latest revenue protection solution, VCAS 3.0 (Video Content Authority System) supports DRM interoperability with the Open IPTV Marlin standard. The company demonstrated OIPF licensing, sharing and re-distribution of Marlin protected video content over managed and unmanaged networks and between multiple devices.

A key feature of VCAS 3.0 is the Verimatrix MultiRights solution, which mediates different DRM technologies on multiple devices through a single set of subscriber entitlements interfaces and Web services APIs. Verimatrix’s single content authority and entitlement process is able to deliver licenses in whatever DRM format the requesting user device requires. The support of the Marlin standard was one key proof-of-concept for the MultiRights approach.

The growing need for content protection and rights flexibility is evident elsewhere. At SecureMedia (now part of Motorola Home & Networks Mobility business) the Encryptonite ONE CA/DRM system provides software-based content security for managed and non-managed IP video delivery, covering STBs, wireless handsets, PCs, portable entertainment devices and eventually connected TVs, among other things. The solution is OMA compliant and the company has been asked by an existing service provider customer that uses its technology for managed delivery to STBs to interface with devices carrying a pre-loaded Marlin client.

It is an important trend for security vendors to provide a common, unified management platform and where necessary hand over the actual content protection functions to another DRM. One of the value-adds they then provide, as outlined by Wajs at Irdeto, is domain management – allowing the service provider to associate multiple devices to a subscription account, outlining the number of devices that can receive content and the associated business rules, and ensuring the video is repurposed for use with the different DRMs.

Steven Hawley, Principal Analyst & Consultant at TV Strategies, believes Pay TV operators are going to need a content solution that covers all their distribution requirements from the headend. This means covering home and outdoor delivery, their own devices and other devices, across DVB networks and over-the-top networks.

TV Strategies provides consulting services and industry analysis, specialising in IPTV and broadband television. Hawley notes, “They will look at this as a way to reduce costs and minimize complexity. Most of the major CAS (Conditional Access System) companies support multiple security and device environments, including IP pure play and hybrid IP/DVB-x.”

Petr Peterka, CTO at Verimatrix, believes it is becoming essential to be able to handle different security systems for different devices. “I think it would be naive to think that my security will be on every device in the world and I think different security systems may have different advantages and might be more suitable for different devices,” he comments. “What is key is that a Pay TV operator addresses a single subscriber or single account and he knows what devices are in that account and he has control of what is called the ‘user domain’.

“We provide the mapping to that device, which may need our CA security or another, possibly standards-based solution. This is transparent to the end user, who simply consumes the content they have paid for, and it should be transparent to the Pay TV operator as well. We have to address devices that do not necessarily have our clients on them but we still want to provide an enabler for the Pay TV operator to monetize his content and protect his revenue.”

Fexibility is essential whether the services are being delivered into the home via the cloud, outside the home via the cloud, or through a home media gateway to multiple screens. As Steve Hawley points out: “There is a need for the ability to exchange rights between network and device environments, and therefore for interoperability of rights, and so that the content usage rules and consumer entitlements are preserved.

“An effective way to do this is by using a centralized ‘authority’ and then to have a way to pass rights from a content provider, through a service provider, through the access provider, to the home gateway or STB, across the home network, to the consumer device, to only the right screen.” Hawley notes that it is possible to use a traditional CA from end-to-end, so you do not always need to hand over from CA to DRM to reach a CE device. “Many of the CAS vendors are now cross-device with centralized management,” he notes.

You can find out more on this subject in our 'Anyscreen, Anywhere video' report.

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