Freewire, the Largest IPTV Service in UK, Now Protected by SecureMedia

The Award-Winning Encryptonite ONE™ System Secures Multicast Digital Television Entertainment on PCs and Macs at over 40 Universities throughout the UK

NATICK, MA, USA and LONDON, UK — SecureMedia, the technology leader in open content protection software for secure video and multimedia delivery over IP networks, and Inuk Networks, a triple-play service provider and developer of distributed broadcast quality TV and carrier-class telephony over closed IP-based networks, today announced that Freewire, the popular IPTV service in operation at over 40 university campuses across the UK with future expansion to students in residential accommodation, is now protected by SecureMedia Encryptonite One™ System.

The Freewire platform currently provides triple-play services, including IPTV, to around 120,000 student bedrooms over the JANET high-speed network, which connects all UK universities. The availability of over 50 channels of high quality, Encryptonite One™ protected entertainment on Freewire is delivered straight to students’ PCs or Macs. Secure set-top boxes allowing users to access the service on a traditional TV set are also beginning to be deployed across the campuses. Universities wanting to offer their on-campus students access to multiple channels of digital television can implement the Freewire service with very little effort or cost and without having to install any additional capital equipment.

The Freewire service can be delivered over any IP-enabled network using highly bandwidth efficient multicast technology, which allows a large number of channels to be carried without significant network loading. Inuk Network’s Freewire delivery platform, over which the Freewire service runs, is capable of managing not only the delivery of hundreds of channels of video content but also a carrier class VoIP solution and broadband Internet access.

Marcus Liassides, CEO at Inuk Networks, states: “Freewire continues to be a great success with more colleges and universities adopting our innovative platform because of the enthusiastic response from students. To provide them the best in studio and network content today and continue to expand our offerings of Hollywood blockbusters, exciting TV channels and the latest music hits, we required a proven content security solution that was open, expandable and flexible for these educational environments and networks. Not only did SecureMedia’s Encryptonite One™ System meet and exceed our needs, we were able to integrate and deploy this security platform in record time.”

“Freewire’s ability to offer a rich entertainment service on PCs and Macs is perfect for today’s generation of multi-(media)-tasking students who easily flip between watching films and social networking on Facebook,” said Fred Ellis, COO of SecureMedia. “We are extremely happy to not only support the university environment with the highest content security solution available today, we look forward to securing the upcoming nationwide expansion of Freewire’s residential IPTV offering through their exclusive partnership with Cable & Wireless.”

The Encryptonite ONE System, winner of the industry’s highest award; the 2008 IPTV World Series Award for best content protection, is today’s proven multi-format, multi-platform CA/DRM software solution that provides the highest levels of digital content security while offering operational efficiencies and extended value. Approved by all major film studios and TV broadcasters, the Encryptonite ONE System allows telcos and broadband operators to acquire distribution rights to the most compelling broadcast channels and VOD programming. Its unique system design features an ultra-light, processor-efficient client that can be deployed on virtually any consumer media appliance to allow ubiquitous secure content distribution on current and future set-top boxes, PCs, portable players and mobile phones. Employing a patented, common encryption scheme for both broadcast and VOD content and through its exclusive EverLock™ process, the Encryptonite ONE System is the only solution available today that enables persistent and efficient protection of content at all times in distribution and storage including in DVR and nDVR applications. Newest innovations include exclusive platform extensions that allow for selectable digital forensics to track, identify and deter piracy of valued content (IdentiFind™), rapid middleware integration to speed time-to-market (CodeConnect™), and configurable security parameters for diverse quality content (TrustAdjust™).

Both companies will be exhibiting at IBC2008, RAI Centre, Amsterdam in the IPTV Zone (Hall12) from 12 to 16 September 2008. Inuk Networks (Stand IP313), SecureMedia (Stand IP214).