Verimatrix Security Architecture Extends Conditional Access Domain to Focus on Revenue Security

VCAS 3.0 Enhancements Secure Revenue-Generating Services for Adaptive Rate Streaming and Unmanaged Networks

AMSTERDAM, THE Netherlands — IBC2009, Stand #5.B45 — Verimatrix, setting the standard in content security technologies that enhance the value of pay-TV networks, today unveiled the profile of its next generation Verimatrix Video Content Authority System (VCAS™) 3.0 core architecture. Taking advantage of the flexibility and power of software-based content security technologies, VCAS 3.0 enables pay-TV operators to offer a more extensive set of service offerings, helping operators attract and retain subscribers who want information and entertainment options in the living room and beyond. Verimatrix invites customers and partners for a full briefing on VCAS 3.0 and its other products at IBC2009 Hall 5 Stand #B45.

“Consumer appetite for content anytime and anywhere is evident in the growth of online and mobile video consumption, which is supplementing traditional TV viewership,” stated Yoav Schreiber, senior analyst, Digital Media Infrastructure at Current Analysis. “To respond to evolving consumer viewing behavior, operators and content owners need the flexibility to introduce and deliver protected premium video applications and services across both managed and unmanaged networks. In the new generation of VCAS, Verimatrix has evolved its security solutions to meet many such emerging demands, which ultimately enables operators to enhance their revenue streams and retain subscribers.”

Award-winning VCAS is the foundation of all Verimatrix content security solutions, utilizing standards-based cryptographic and e-commerce technologies proven on the Internet. VCAS secures multi-screen services across IPTV, DVB, mobile TV and cable IPTV delivery networks in more than 250 customer installations worldwide. The next generation of VCAS shifts the value proposition of conditional access towards the broader perspective of revenue security through enhancements on several fronts:

• Multi-format delivery support – Traditional media formats for broadcast and video-on-demand (VOD) increasingly must co-exist with adaptive rate streaming and progressive download formats, especially in over-the-top (OTT) and mobile applications. VCAS 3.0 takes a format-independent approach to security that enables simultaneous and equivalent revenue security across a broad range of media formats, protocols and file types. Multi-format delivery enables, for instance, simultaneous and equivalent revenue security on multicast IP streams in a managed IPTV system and rate adaptive HTTP streams on a mobile devices network.
• Single content authority integration for multiple DRMs – VCAS 3.0 offers a single set of subscriber entitlements interfaces and APIs to streamline operations for multi-network and multi-device services via its MultiRights™ technology.
• Advanced client and services management – VCAS 3.0 enables operators to easily monitor and enforce client license rules on all client types under a unified content security head-end, including operational enhancements, such as complex blackout obligations; creative revenue enhancement models, such as channel or group e-credit and targeted cross-promotional messaging; and subscriber self-management capabilities, such as DVR setup from Web and mobile interfaces.
• Standard ViewRight® chipset integrations – The processing power of today’s advanced set-top boxes shifts the advantages in favor of software-based security. Chipset security features are standard in the latest ViewRight client solutions and guarantee an even stronger and more secure integration with any client device. This covers aspects such as hardware-based secure boot, control word obfuscation, use of secure storage, HW crypto engines and tamper-proof unique hardware identifiers.
• Client type configuration – Auto-configuration and client type management enables operators to more easily monitor, update and enforce client operational parameters across different categories of device types with varying capabilities. Operators can now diversify the range of client devices supported within a single deployment umbrella while ensuring subscription and content pricing models can be independently managed as required.
• VideoMark™ watermarking as standard feature – To anticipate studio demand, VideoMark forensic watermarking support will be included in all configurations of its VCAS 3.x server. VideoMark provides a layer of revenue security for content that extends beyond the digital delivery domain.

“VCAS 3.0 represents the evolving role of content security to more broadly support the ‘cash register’ at the heart of every pay-TV business,” said Bob Kulakowski, CTO of Verimatrix. “Today’s announcement, the first in a series, is focused on enabling pay-TV operators to take advantage of flexible file formats and rate adaptive delivery systems, and ultimately grow their subscriber base and add revenue streams.”

Verimatrix’s unparalleled partner ecosystem is a significant factor in the deployment of VCAS 3.0. To effectively secure revenue, it is critical to integrate with all other subsystems, such as billing, presentation, encoding, etc., and provide a high degree of operational integrity. Verimatrix’s partner integrations offer flexible deployment options with the widest choice of components and promise of interoperability.