Battling Content Piracy & Theft of Service

Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) is gaining momentum and carries the promises of revolutionising how content is delivered. The most successful IPTV deployments have one thing in common: premium content. As delivery models move away from the controlled environments of movie theatres, cable networks and DVDs, and towards on-demand, IP-based platforms, the task of keeping premium content safe from piracy becomes increasingly critical. Owners of high quality content will need to be assured that their assets are delivered safely across IP networks.

The very word "Internet" sends shivers down the spines of many studio executives as they look back on the plight of the music industry. Major recording labels spent years trying to resist the online distribution model in an attempt to protect the high margin on CD sales. And when digital rights management (DRM) schemes were introduced they were improperly applied, causing problems for consumers of legal content, while doing little to stop the proliferation of illegally obtained content via the Internet.

Today the industry is faced with a similar situation with IPTV. Movie studios have a well established distribution system with cable and satellite providers paying substantial guaranteed minimum royalties for content. The studios are hesitant to embrace new channels that may erode revenues from the existing channels. Additionally, the Internet in IPTV conjures images of perfect digital copies flying across the web, cannibalising the traditional distribution channels.

In the Middle East, protection is also needed against a common type of service theft in pay-TV services known as “cloning.” Illegal devices designed to emulate brand models provide a way for consumers to access content without paying for it, leading to subscription fee losses in the tens of millions of dollars annually. In fact several Middle Eastern government bodies have recently implemented anti-piracy measures aimed at enforcing the protection of not only content but preventing theft of service as well. To overcome such piracy tactics, the IPTV security system must be able to detect even the most cleverly designed client device clones, the most popular being a cloned set-top box (STB).

When IPTV started to become reality, many traditional conditional access (CA) vendors mounted a campaign to convince operators that smart card-based security would be required to secure rights for premium content from the major content providers.

However, smart card-based systems present a few problems. Despite the best efforts of security vendors, encryptions can be broken and smart cards can be cloned. Unlike traditional cable and satellite delivery, an IP network enables two-way communication allowing the operator to regularly "talk" to a STB or PC. IPTV has been an ideal proving ground for software-based content security, which brings real cost and security advantages when compared with legacy CA vendors. A downloadable solution can be cost-effectively renewed without a card swap, preventing revenue loss at even attempted piracy. For the consumer, this can be entirely transparent with no disruption to the service. Hence smart cards are not required for two-way, IP-based pay-TV systems.

Without the burden of additional hardware, software-based IPTV security solutions enable operators to add additional layers of protection.

Technologies such as clone detection, which are able to detect client device clones through operational differences, including channel viewing patterns or the timing of requests for keys, are a powerful deterrent.

Software-based content security solutions, combined with multiple layers of protection, provides consumers with the freedom and flexibility they want, while giving content owners and operators the peace of mind they need. By addressing the security challenges of interactive networks, the broadcast industry is free to capitalise on the unique revenue opportunities that IPTV presents.