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Quick Jump Menu to this Issue’s Articles April 14th, 2004 Overview The Scoop on IP Video from USTA Beyond Movies: TV on Demand – More Notes from Digital Hollywood Content Protection …..The Rest of the Story..
Content Protection …..The Rest of the Story..
by Ken Pyle ([email protected]), Viodi, LLC
April 14th, 2004 Issue
[Editor’s Note: Part one of this article appeared in the last issue.]
Money, Money, Money…..
I want to talk a little bit about content windows and their importance to Hollywood. This will put things in perspective as to why they are so protective of their intellectual property. One of the things that the studios excel at is managing the life-cycle of their products, such that they maximize profit. They have found that the best way to do this is to use a system of “windows”. In this context, “windows” refers to limiting the license period for a particular piece of content’s use.
For instance, the first window is theatrical. The length of time a particular title is available in the theatrical window is primarily a function of its box office – the greater the box office, the longer the run. At some point, the window closes and a given title is no longer available to theaters. The next window is known by many names, institutional, airline, hotels, hospitality. This window occurs right after theatrical and is only available for commercial applications.
The next windows could be termed residential and the first and foremost among those is the home video window. As we will see in a second, this has become huge. Then, typically 30 to 45 days after this window, the PPV/VOD window is the first opportunity for electronic distribution of content to residential applications. This window closes two to three months later, opening up the pay television window. After a pay television window, which can last up to a year, the content could be available for broadcast network and, finally, syndication or library availability.
Now, superimposing the revenue for each of these windows, it becomes clear why the studios are so concerned about protecting their intellectual property assets. Clearly, most of the revenue that is generated today is from the physical distribution of assets – either through the theatrical or home video window. The studios do not want to jeopardize the revenue from these windows by enabling distribution systems that would allow piracy of their content.
Further, the idea of moving up the PPV/VOD windows, such they coincide with the home video window, becomes a non-starter without adequate protection. Some will argue that the studios have many other leak points (e.g. cameras in the theaters and that sort of thing), but the reality is it doesn’t matter. The studios own the content and they do not want to create new leak points. And the studios are actively trying to close any other security breaches.
I heard a great quote the other day that was attributed to a studio executive from Paramount who suggested that, in the ideal world, the content would be secured from the camera to the consumer’s eyeball. Hmmm, I am interested to see that content protection system.
The Entire Process
That statement is similar in spirit to the reference diagram that we use to help our clients define their content protection process. This diagram depicts the flow of content from the time the studio gives its blessing for its post-production house to release a title to the time the title has to be removed from a play list.
What is described in this picture is fundamentally about the importance of having a content protection process. As it is a process, the technology is almost secondary. First, the needs have to be identified. Then, electronic and/or physical means of securing the content must be put in place.
There was an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal a few weeks back suggesting that an when one attempts to protect some sort of information, one should assume that eventually the protection will be broken. And it is true, the studios realize that the most secure system today will probably be broken in the future. Therefore, it is very important to them that the operator adopts processes and technology that are flexible enough to fight a never-ending battle with those who would try to steal content.
So, let us take a high-level view of each of the major steps required in the process. The first step is to get the content from the studio’s post-production house to the broadband operator’s headend. Ideally, this is an electronic distribution either via satellite or the secure Internet. Alternatively, we found in some applications, particularly for hotels, that physical media, such as encrypted DVDs work best for this step in the journey.
Once the content is in the headend and on a server (assuming VOD), there must be some method to ensure that a rogue employee cannot gain access to the content. This implies firewalls, security cameras, authentication procedures and all kinds of good technology and common sense.
The local loop is the next point in the distribution system. Fortunately, the fiber to the home and high-speed DSL systems are much less vulnerable to illegal customer tapping than the traditional coaxial cable, shared bandwidth approach. Having said that, once the signals are brought into the home, today’s all IP Video system may be more vulnerable if it is left in the clear.
That is, the studios are rightfully concerned about a customer being able to use a PC to “sniff” an authorized Ethernet stream redirect a legitimately ordered movie into a PC hard-drive for illegal replication and distribution. In a nutshell, that is why content protection is absolutely necessary, especially for IP Video networks.
Just a couple of other notes about this diagram; first, these same rules apply even if the operator is going through a third-party aggregator that has the direct relationships with the studios, pay television services, like HBO, Showtime, Starz! will also be concerned about an operator’s ability to protect their content.
The content protection will not be as important to an advertiser supported cable network. But, if the content protection system you employ helps you provide a gold-stamp verification of viewership, then it may have some increased value to the advertising community.
In Summary:
From my vantage point, it is clear that content protection is a must-have, especially for the more valuable content, such as movies-on-demand and sports-on-demand. And the more valuable content is a must-have, if an operator is going to effectively compete with cable and satellite operators. Ideally, content protection is something that must be interwoven in the fabric of the company, so that it is second nature.
The formula for acquiring content is fairly straightforward as it requires a plan and follow-through to protect content, a desire to market and promote content and a business plan with sound financials. Of course, having peronal relationships with the content providers does speed things up a great deal.
So, I look forward to hearing the rest of today’s webinar, as Irdeto will enlighten us regarding the details of content protection technology and terminology.
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