In today’s digital age, Over-The-Top (OTT) content delivery has revolutionized the way we consume video and audio content. OTT platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ have become household names, offering a vast array of entertainment at our fingertips. However, with the increasing popularity of OTT content, protecting intellectual property and ensuring content security has become paramount. This is where Digital Rights Management (DRM) comes into play. In this article, we’ll explore what DRM is and how it can be used to safeguard your OTT content.
What is DRM?
Digital Rights Management, or DRM, is a technology used to protect digital content from unauthorized access, copying, and distribution. It achieves this by encrypting the content and controlling access through a licensing system. DRM serves as a digital lock that ensures only authorized users can access and enjoy the content. For OTT platforms, DRM is crucial in safeguarding valuable content and maintaining the revenue generated from it.
Protecting OTT Content with DRM
Here are some key strategies for protecting your OTT content using DRM:
1. Encryption
The foundation of DRM is encryption. Content is encrypted at the source and only decrypted for playback on authorized devices. This ensures that even if the content is intercepted during transmission, it remains secure and inaccessible to unauthorized users.
2. License Management
DRM relies on licenses to grant access to content. These licenses can be time-limited, device-specific, or even tied to a specific user’s credentials. OTT platforms can manage these licenses to ensure that only legitimate users can view the content.
3. Watermarking
Watermarking is another essential feature of DRM. It involves embedding hidden information in the video or audio content. This information can identify the source of the leak if the content is pirated, acting as a deterrent to unauthorized distribution.
4. Secure Players
OTT platforms should use secure player applications that are equipped to handle DRM-protected content. These players ensure that content can only be played on authorized devices and that the decryption process is secure.
5. Regular Updates
As technology evolves, so do the methods used by pirates to circumvent DRM. Regular updates to your DRM system are necessary to stay ahead of potential threats. This involves updating encryption algorithms and licensing systems to counter emerging threats.
6. Compliance with Industry Standards
It’s essential to adhere to industry standards for DRM implementation. This ensures that your content is compatible with various devices and platforms while maintaining robust security.
Benefits of Using DRM for OTT Content
How to Protect the OTT Content Using DRM?
Protection of Intellectual Property: DRM helps content creators and distributors protect their valuable intellectual property, preventing unauthorized access and distribution.
Revenue Protection: By securing your content, you can maintain your revenue streams and ensure that only paying customers have access.
Enhanced User Experience: DRM ensures a seamless and secure experience for legitimate users, which is essential for building and retaining a loyal user base.
Compliance and Reporting: DRM systems can track user behavior and help with reporting and compliance requirements, which is particularly important in the media industry.
Deterrent for Pirates: The visible presence of DRM measures like watermarks acts as a deterrent to potential pirates.
Conclusion
Protecting OTT content using DRM is a necessity in today’s digital landscape. With the rise of piracy and unauthorized access, content owners and distributors must take proactive measures to secure their investments. By implementing DRM technology, you not only protect your content but also enhance the user experience and ensure compliance with industry standards. As OTT continues to shape the way we consume content, DRM remains an indispensable tool for content security and long-term success.
The video streaming content provider is losing 20% of potential revenue due to intellectual property theft. This figure was obtained from a survey conducted by Streaming Media.
Thudo Multimedia will present the key takeaways from this survey. The report highlights trends in Digital Rights Management (DRM) for protecting digital content and raises larger questions about the characteristics of content protection solutions in the future.
Over 200 people participated in the survey at the end of this summer. While many respondents were from North America, others came from the Asia-Pacific, Europe, and South America. They worked in various industries, ranging from advertising and artists to OTT broadcasters and cable television. In addition, instructors and businesses represented various fields, from technical to operations and management.
One aspect the report expands on is the difference between what businesses offer to customers (in terms of content access) and what customers desire (in terms of freedom to share and access content anywhere).
What’s even more interesting is that from an expert’s perspective, survey participants called for stricter DRM content protection solutions. Simultaneously, these experts responded to customer queries regarding less restrictive access.
“The gap between business models and customer expectations continues to exist. The research highlights this trend,” said Olga Kornienko, co-founder of EZDRM, a DRM-focused company.
The report also provides evidence that attack trends are increasing exponentially, along with the growing complexity of delivering video content to a wide range of devices.
Another part of the report delves into the increasing demand for livestream security in the context of the global pandemic, which has led to a significant increase in interactive livestreams from early 2022 to the summer of 2023. In fact, the survey indicates that the need to protect livestream content is just as crucial as providing on-demand content to viewers.
Finally, the report updates the latest global DRM standards and the rise of DRM+ as a new “blend” for security.
Contact Thudo Multimedia today for consultation on DRM technology solutions to protect digital content copyrights.
Five critical things that TV operators should think about when it comes to choosing a solution for DRM protection.
With content budgets rising all the time, whether for original productions or rights purchases, operators are understandably paying increasing attention to the protection of that investment. It is a challenging part of any business strategy as piracy organisations are constantly evolving and finding new ways to intercept and illegally re-stream video. Digital rights management (DRM) is thus a critical part of any overall OTT business plan, whether a new launch or an established service, but there are many different things to consider when it comes to choosing the right DRM protection for your business needs.
Here then is our quick checklist of items and issues that will guide you when it comes to choosing your own DRM solutions.
5 key considerations for DRM protection
5 things you need to consider when choosing DRM protection
1. Recognise the value of your content
There is a direct link to the value of your content and the value that pirates can charge for accessing illegal copies of it. This means that the more you pay for your rights, the more you need to pay attention to how to protect them. Your content will be targeted; it’s a question of when and not if.
Sports rights are historically some of the most expensive in the industry and sports has been one of the main areas to be targeted in recent years, as piracy has moved to a live streaming model. Content protection here is an absolute prerequisite and is increasingly demanded by rights holders as part of any deal. Rights holders are all too aware that any leak anywhere in the world can have repercussions on their business wherever it may be situated. The prevailing mood is that they cannot be too careful.
2. Multiple devices = multi DRM
The days of watching television on a single big screen TV set in the living room are long gone. Today’s viewers watch digital content on a multiplicity of screens, from phones that they can put in their pocket to giant LCD screens that dwarf anything seen in the days of the cathode ray tube. And they expect that content to be there when they want it to be. The difficulty is that each platform has its own application language, methodology, and native DRM security, meaning that whatever you offer, viewing needs to be secured across all of them.
A multi-DRM approach is the only way that this can be done. It supports as wide a range of devices and formats as possible, as well as offering integration with third party DRM solutions such as Widevine or Microsoft PlayReady. Viewers don’t care about rights management issues; they simply expect their content to be available at anytime, anywhere, and that their viewing experience will be seamless.
3. Network considerations
Different DRM solutions generate DRM protected files in different ways, and the ideal DRM encryption solution you choose will depend on whether you leverage unicast, multicast or broadcast networks – managed or not. It’s a situation with plenty of flexibility and fairly constant evolution and iteration, and may evolve as your content delivery network advances and you reassess the ecosystem of your protected files.
It is worth pointing you that that leveraging adaptive streaming protocols such as MPEG-DASH, Microsoft Smooth Streaming and HLS is vital to maintain optimal video quality under a range of network conditions and on any device type.
4. Looking at the big picture
Any DRM solution you choose, not to mention the way you implement it, are a part of the overall content licensing agreements you sign, as rights owners become more concerned about the downstream management of digital rights.
That means it is not just the DRM you are selecting, but also the method of implementation that matters, as well as the level of security around the integration, and how security management will be handled over time: it is a complete package. Rights holders want to know that there are mitigations in place to prevent DRM protection removal, especially as DRM removal software has become more widespread
Integration need not be a lengthy process, however. VO’s own multi-DRM solution can be integrated into an operator’s ecosystem within a few weeks.
5. Hitting a moving target
Piracy is changing and evolving all the time. The amount of money – often illegal revenues of crime syndicates – being spent on establishing illegal operations is significant. This means that anti-piracy measures, including offering protected DRM content, have to constantly evolve too, to keep up as well. Technologies such as DRM Dynamic Watermarking thus become important over time, as workarounds for existing security methods become widespread amongst the pirate services, and the industry has to cope with increased DRM removal.
Managing risk
In the end, an effective DRM Solution is all about the management and limitation of risk. A solution looking to provide DRM TV needs to fulfil a range of criteria:
Deploy a set of technologies that fit your business models, that work both now and in the future
Provide rights owners with reassurance.
Integrate tightly and securely in all devices that are being used for your service. This covers both their hardware and software environments.
Piggyback on the security capabilities of the devices, and provide hardware anchorage wherever possible. This can be achieved through features such as STB secure chipsets, Trusted Execution Environments for smartphones, and more.
Take a holistic approach that does not rely on DRM alone. Additional services such as anti-piracy tracking and watermarking should also be considered too, as an essential part of your overall content protection.
Consumers are now used to dealing with DRM digital rights, with music services such as iTunes and Apple Music leading the way when it comes to audio and acting as powerful gatekeepers to protected songs and other media. However, the same situation is not yet the case when it comes to video and from the growth in Kodi Boxes to the almost total replacement of bittorrent with live streaming piracy services, video content and copyrighted works have never been under so much threat. However, there are definitely actions you can take to stay in control and make sure that digital content is protected, and that list starts with a robust security agent powered by DRM.
As sport fills the world’s TV screens once more, the battle to ensure that sports video piracy does not destroy revenues needs new anti-piracy strategies.
After a difficult few months where events were cancelled, leagues halted worldwide, and Pay-TV companies were even forced to temporarily suspend subscriptions, sports, and sports broadcasting has restarted.
Having shrunk to historic lows of a mere 3% of streaming viewing during the height of lockdown, it was back up to its more typical 30% share by mid-June. The first global sport, Formula One, restarted on 5 July, albeit on selected circuits and with no spectators. And while the Olympics has been postponed to a — hoped-for — date of July 2021, the summer schedules are full of leagues either debuting new formats or finishing off postponed matches.
There may still be no fans in attendance and the games may be taking place in unaccustomed silence, but the autumn will see sport back to its normal place in the TV schedules. And, unfortunately, the restreaming of sports by sophisticated piracy outfits is back too. A 10-country survey of more than 6000 sports fans published in June revealed that only 16% said they never watched sports using an illegal service.
A global problem
Illegal streaming is an issue around the world, no matter where the sport originates. On Friday 19 June, the Singapore High Court granted an order sought by BBC Studios, Discovery, England’s Premier League, Spain’s La Liga, and TVB for Singapore’s internet service providers to block access to 17 domains associated with popular piracy streaming sites and 41 domains associated with popular illicit streaming device (ISD) applications.
The importance of watermarking in tackling sports video piracy
Announcing the action, the Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA) also revealed the results of a survey that said that 17% of Singapore consumers, and 32% of 18 – 24-year-olds, access streaming piracy websites or torrent sites.
It is not a situation that stays still either. A Wired piece titled Twitch Has Become a Haven for Live Sports Piracy describes how the esports gaming service has been hijacked by pirates. 70,000 viewers watched a soccer match over three live streams in January, 86,000 watched a boxing bout in December, and three of the services’ Top 10 streams were devoted to a December 21 FIFA Club World Cup match with 100,000 viewers spread between them.
Taking action against live streaming is vital, now more so than ever as businesses start the long road to recovery from the loss of income during the pandemic period.
Time is of the essence
With live events now as vulnerable to hacking and streaming as movies and tentpole TV shows, so the ability to combat them has had to shift into a real-time mode as well. There is little advantage in sending takedown notices to the three Twitch streams that were streaming the FIFA Club World Cup the day after the match or even minutes after it.
This is why dynamic watermarking solutions such as Sigma Solutions are the best solution to combat modern sports piracy. Watermarking enables speedy detection as it is vital to identify the source of the illegal stream in the modern environment. Links can of course be taken down, but web cleaning on its own is not enough nowadays as links can proliferate again via bots on social media networks with astonishing rapidity.
Couple watermarking with our Eye on Piracy service and you have a full E2E solution that provides all the tools required to combat piracy for live events swiftly and reliably. Together they allow broadcasters and operators to protect their revenue by offering the following key features that need to be considered for any effective anti-piracy strategy:
Robustness: In this instance, resistance to collusion which is the main attack to remove the watermarking
Legacy support: An anti-piracy strategy must encompass as many devices as possible. As it is a software-based solution, supporting legacy devices is not an issue
Imperceptible: A watermarking solution needs to be transparent so that it does not impact the quality of the video and the video itself
Scalable: VO’s Watermarking as a Service features a cloud deployment so that it can swiftly scale to monitor a huge number of devices and users
Resolution independent: Not only must the solution be able to accommodate future increases in resolution, it must also be able to operate at low video resolutions to identify individual users as the source of piracy
All of this makes for an ideal solution to tackle live sports piracy. It is robust enough to withstand the pirates’ increasingly sophisticated attempts at obfuscation; it is software based so that it can reach the huge range of devices that sports fans watch games and matches on; it is undetectable to the viewer (and the unwitting pirate); it is cloud-based and so swiftly scalable, not to mention the possibilities for deployment on an ‘as you go’ basis; and it can extract watermarks even from poor quality pictures.
Watermarking and sports piracy
Watermarking is not a cure for sports piracy on its own. While a powerful tool and a key enabler for real-time action, it needs to be seen as part of an overall anti-piracy strategy. This is increasingly something that sports leagues and content owners are looking for; a quality of service that protects their valuable assets and can combine several technologies together to take the fight to the pirates.
Furthermore, watermarking can be automated with web crawler solutions to manage anti-piracy in real-time. And real-time action is just what is needed. As sport returns to our screens experience says that piracy is not far behind it.
In an era where an increasing number of viewers are turning to Smart TVs for content consumption, Multi-DRM emerges as the essential solution to address the growing fragmentation within the broadcast ecosystem.
These Smart TVs are now the primary gateway for viewers to access both linear television and streaming services. In the UK, Smart TVs have become the predominant choice for TV viewing, while in the US, 50% of broadband households own one, with a remarkable 77% of these sets connected to the internet, totaling over 80 million devices.
Furthermore, Smart TV sales continue to surge, with 198 million units shipped in 2018. Projections indicate that this number will climb to 266 million by 2025, constituting a significant portion of global TV set shipments. These Smart TVs, equipped with user-friendly app ecosystems, have enabled widespread cord-cutting and cord-shaving practices. Leading manufacturers include pre-installed apps for major OTT (Over-The-Top) streaming platforms on both an international and national scale. Expanding content options has become as simple as visiting the TV’s built-in app store within its user interface.
However, the success story of Smart TVs is not without its challenges, particularly when it comes to safeguarding video content through Digital Rights Management (DRM). This issue is of paramount importance in the ever-evolving broadcast ecosystem that is taking shape as a result of these technological advancements.
The problem of DRM on Smart TVs
Multi-DRM: Solving the DRM Challenge for Smart TVs
The challenge arises from the fundamental shift in the broadcast ecosystem. Unlike the Set-Top Box (STB)-driven broadcast environment, which was largely controlled by broadcasters and operators as the equipment suppliers, the Smart TV market has been driven by consumer preferences. With the transition of the video service delivery point from STBs to Smart TVs, certain aspects of the service, including content protection, have moved beyond the influence of operators.
Content protection mechanisms now depend on the Smart TV manufacturers and are often implemented in a somewhat arbitrary manner. As we will explore in the next section, what functions smoothly on one Smart TV may not necessarily work on another.
There are additional complexities in this landscape. For example, Hollywood Studios demand some form of hardware security to safeguard high-quality 4K content, a requirement that often involves HDCP 2.x ‘handshakes’ before signals can be transmitted to other devices, such as soundbars. On the other hand, many OTT operators aim to ensure that their content can directly reach viewers’ screens without any third-party intervention.
The outcome of these diverse demands is that DRM, which originally stands for Digital Rights Management, might as well be interpreted as Digital Rights Mess. This situation was starkly exemplified in November 2019 when a significant number of Smart TV owners encountered an error message stating that ‘Netflix will no longer be available on this device after December 1st, 2019’.
This message impacted viewers using older Samsung and Vizio Smart TV sets, as well as some Roku devices in the US and Canada. The issue revolved around Netflix discontinuing support for an older DRM standard, Windows Media DRM, which was present on devices sold between roughly 2010 and 2014, even though Netflix had adopted Microsoft PlayReady in 2010.
A Roku spokesperson conveyed that many affected devices were eight to ten years old and highlighted that older hardware eventually becomes incompatible with new software. Nevertheless, this incident underscored the potential issues within DRM and reaffirmed the industry’s understanding of the value of Multi-DRM solutions—content protection solutions capable of accommodating multiple forms of DRM in a device-agnostic manner.
The fragmented picture of current DRM
Multi-DRM is an area in which we possess extensive expertise. Multi-DRM is fundamentally the solution to the challenges posed by a fragmented marketplace. It is a technology that enables us to address the complexities of multiple DRM systems and support various delivery systems within a single product.
This comprehensive approach is indispensable because, while the market may seem supportive of standards on the surface, a closer look reveals a different reality. Behind the scenes, a considerable amount of sophisticated technology is required to ensure a seamless video delivery experience for consumers.
To start, there are numerous streaming protocols in play. As digital video delivery has gained momentum, tech giants have developed their own systems for adaptive bitrate streaming over the years. Microsoft Smooth Streaming (MSS) initially led the market, but with the launch of the iPhone, Apple introduced HLS (HTTP Live Streaming), and subsequently, MPEG-DASH—an HTTP-based solution that has become an international standard with support from Google.
HLS and DASH have become dominant in the market, which seems straightforward. However, the complexity arises when DRM is introduced.
In the realm of video delivery to consumer devices, three primary DRM systems are in use. While they exhibit nuances in their operations, broadly speaking, they all revolve around verifying the identity of a playback device and providing a license for content playback. These systems are Google’s Widevine (utilized by Amazon Prime Video), Microsoft’s PlayReady (employed by Netflix), and Apple’s FairPlay (found in iTunes and Apple TV+).
In the context of Smart TVs, FairPlay can be excluded from the discussion for the time being, although it’s not entirely inconceivable that Apple may introduce its own TV set in the future. Nevertheless, this still leaves us with a rapidly evolving landscape of protocols that not every Smart TV supports.
For instance, older Samsung sets lack support for Widevine, Panasonic sets exclusively support PlayReady, LG sets either support PlayReady or the DASH implementation of PlayReady, depending on the operating system they run, and so forth. The scenario varies as you switch between manufacturers and the age of the operating systems the sets are running.
In essence, to ensure that your content reaches the widest possible audience, it’s imperative to support every DRM format. This inevitably leads us to the undeniable importance of Multi-DRM.
What to look for in a Multi-DRM solution
Multi-DRM solves the problems that fragmentation when it comes to digital rights management have caused for the Smart TV market. Effectively it makes the sets plug and play again, and ensures that the viewers can see your content whatever platform they are watching on. So what should you look for when it comes to implementing a Multi-DRM solution of your own? Here’s a quick list.
1. Coverage
A Multi-DRM solution needs to be able to support the widest number of DRM systems in the market. Currently that means Widevine, PlayReady, and FairPlay
2. Future-proofing
It should not however be limited to these three. New requirements are always a possibility, especially as Hollywood studios look to further crack down on content theft. A Multi-DRM solution needs to be agile enough to respond
3. Scalability
Solutions need to be able to handle DRM license issuance peak volumes and handle them at speed to ensure they do not add to the latency of live events. For instance, our work with Orange granting 1.75 billion Multi-DRM licenses averages out at 55 per second for an entire 12 month period. Peak flows can be much higher. During one high profile global soccer tournament, we were granting a peak of 1000 licenses every second for a single broadband client.
4. Advanced security features
A Multi-DRM solution should go beyond the basics of ensuring delivery and provide such additional features as device authentication and multi-DRM management for a truly holistic approach to content security. For instance, at VO we are also able to provide integrated Dynamic watermarking when apps are built with the VO Player.
Multi-DRM & Smart TV – an opportunity
One last thing that is well worth pointing out. For all the efforts surrounding HDCP it has been long compromised and the STB broadcast ecosystem is one that has long been vulnerable to multiple attack fronts. Restreaming in particular is relatively easy.
Unlike STBs with their multiple outputs, however, the Smart TV is the end of the line when it comes to video. No video output needs to be built into smart sets, meaning the only way of illicitly recording content from them is via a camcorder or mobile phone. And that is a route that can be closed off using technology such as our Dynamic Watermarking which provides a unique ID for each Smart TV set and allows for the swift source identification of any content theft in realtime.
That the Smart TV might contribute to the anti-piracy effort while existing efforts to enforce content protection have made Smart TVs sometimes problematic to use is one of those ironies that technology occasionally specialises in.
The Smart TV is already dominant in the market and is only set to become more so in the coming years. As yet though there is no sign that there will be any standardisation on DRM protocols in the future, nor any indication that all manufacturers will commit to supporting all of the competing systems currently in the market. Which means that supporting everything via Multi-DRM is the only realistic option for broadcasters and operators that want to provide services to as many customers as possible.
Sigma DRM, the solution to protect digital content copyright developed by Thu Do Multimedia, has become the first made-in-Vietnam DRM solution to meet international security standards by Cartesian. first made in vietnam drm solution meets international security standards With this, Thu Do Multimedia JSC is the first technology company in Southeast Asia to have a solution to protect digital content copyright certified by international standards.
In 2019, Thu Do Multimedia announced the successful research and development of digital content copyright protection solutions by combining DRM (Digital Right Management) and Finger Print Online (solution for detecting re-streaming video sources). This is a solution to protect digital content copyright on the internet environment developed by Vietnamese engineers.
Thu Do Multimedia is a Vietnamese company that has successfully developed DRM solutions and solutions to detect infringements of re-streaming video content on the internet environment.
In December 2019, the digital copyright protection solution (commercially known as Sigma DRM) was also tested and audited by Cartesian to meet international security standards. Thu Do Multimedia is the first company in Vietnam and Southeast Asia and one of six Asian companies to achieve this certification. Cartesian has now certified DRM solutions for all 20 DRM Companies worldwide.
Thu Do Multimedia not only named Vietnam as one of the Top 20 global businesses in developing DRM solutions but also creates opportunities for Vietnamese content owners to apply this domestic solution to curtail the rampant digital content piracy plaguing them.
Talking about the reason why Thu Do Multimedia decided to invest in the research and development of this DRM + Finger Print Online project, CEO Nguyen Ngoc Han said, “In the past two years, Thu Do Multimedia has been the only company that has fully developed OTT television solutions in Vietnam. We realise that copyright protection for digital content (including protection of television content, videos, music, and e-books among others) is of paramount importance.
“Moreover, almost all content owners in the world refuse to co-operate with Vietnamese content providers as they believe they cannot protect their content. The most recent case was the European Cup which was not allowed to be boradcast in Vietnam in 2017 due to the lack of copyright security.”
In order to develop an encryption solution, in addition to requiring software security experience, a deep understanding of the terminals is also a mandatory condition because the entire decrypting process takes place at the hardware side. Moreover, the number of devices in this field ranges from mobile devices to large screens in homes or in cinemas. For that reason, only large companies in the world, such as Apple, Microsoft, and IBM, participated in DRM solution development. In the television DRM segment, there are only about 10 global companies currently developing and providing this solution, such as Nagravision, Conax, and Viacess.
Thu Do Multimedia’s passing the accreditation of Cartesian brought the Sigma DRM into the list of 20 DRM solutions meeting global security standards. This is an important achievement for Thu Do Multimedia, as a proof of its capabilities in the field of security development in Vietnam, and opens up opportunities for Sigma DRM solutions to reach out and provide services to television companies and digital content providers in Vietnam and overseas.
The successful development and owning of DRM technology by a Vietnamese company is an important achievement with the rampant copyright infringements in Vietnam. To combat this, besides integrating content protection solutions (DRM), the applying of Finger Print Online solution to detect pirated video sources and prevent content from being recorded with screen recording devices are shaping up as essential tools.
“In terms of security capabilities, Sigma DRM solution is equivalent to solutions being offered globally,” said Nguyen Ngoc Han.
The successful development of a DRM solution by a local company will benefit digital content owners and providers in Vietnam. To protect copyright, most Vietnamese content providers are now applying foreign DRM security solutions that come at a high cost.
With the success of Sigma DRM solution, Thu Do Multimedia is confident in bringing international-standard solutions to Vietnam. In addition, having a local server dispels the connectivity issues in getting a security key from overseas servers. Additionally, co-ordinating with a local company would offer advantages in negotiations, support, and upgrades.
From July 2019, the combination of Sigma DRM and Finger Print Online has been applied for VTVcab ON – the OTT TV service of Vietnam cable television corporation (VTVcab).
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