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Irdeto Expands ActiveCloak™ for Media with Support for Android, HLS Streaming

Leader in Dynamic Security Advances Premium Content Protection to Ensure TV Everywhere Can Be Enjoyed on the Most Popular Consumer Devices and Open Platforms

AMSTERDAM, BEIJING and OTTAWA — 28 July 2011

Overview

With consumer demand for content anytime, anywhere rising sharply and the TV Everywhere movement continuing to gain steam, Irdeto is broadening its platform-agnostic ActiveCloak for Media solution by adding support for Android and HLS Streaming. ActiveCloak for Media protects high-value content delivered over-the-top or through the home network, helping content owners, operators and CE manufacturers protect and monetize digital entertainment assets across a wide range of consumer devices, regardless of whether they're driven by open or proprietary systems.

Expanded Solution

  • Irdeto's ActiveCloak for Media solution (ActiveCloak) has been expanded to include premium content protection for Android applications in addition to existing customer deployments on Apple iOS, PC, Mac and embedded set-top box and connected TV platforms.
  • Because adaptive bitrate streaming is key to creating an excellent consumer experience, the solution now also provides full support of HTTP Live Streaming technology (HLS) in addition to Irdeto’s existing support of Microsoft IIS Smooth Streaming.
  • The broadened reach of ActiveCloak will give media companies a toolkit to protect premium assets (including HD content), build the trust of content owners and Hollywood studios, secure more digital entertainment and reduce time to market on a broad variety of popular consumer devices.
  • The expanded offering comes on the heels of the company's acquisition of BD+ technology, a strategic deal designed to further deepen the ActiveCloak offering and protect high-value Blu-ray movie titles from the threat of digital piracy.

Key Facts

  • Consumer demand for Android is on the rise. Gartner estimates that global Android shipments will rise from 194 million in 2011 (of which 180 million are smartphones and 14 million are tablets) to approximately 653 million in 2015 (of which 539 million will be smartphones and 113 million will be tablets).
  • HLS adoption continues to gain momentum beyond Apple, with both Google and Adobe adding HLS support to key products in their portfolio in the past year.
  • Digital video piracy continues to threaten the future of the entertainment industry, with Avatar recently claiming the position as the most pirated film in history, racking up almost a million illegal downloads in the first week of its release.
  • TV Everywhere is finally becoming a reality as U.S. video consumption shifts to multiple screens, with mobile viewing growing over 53 percent in 2010. A recent report from Multimedia Research Group predicts 2011 will be the year broadcast and IPTV operators begin integrating over-the-top video on a broad scale.
  • As interest grows in devices based on open systems, media companies are racing to add Android-powered devices to their premium content offerings as rapidly as possible. These companies must immediately address the security complexities that are inherent to open operating systems, which attract a large pool of developers and are easier for hackers to penetrate than proprietary systems.

Background

  • Irdeto launched its ActiveCloak for Media dynamic security solution in February 2011 to protect and monetize high-value digital entertainment assets across a wide range of consumer devices.
  • ActiveCloak takes application protection to a new level with integrated renewability, diversity, integrity verification and piracy monitoring for a wide range of popular content distribution platforms — including tablets, smartphones, iPads, PCs, connected TVs, game consoles and hybrid STBs.
  • At its core, ActveCloak for Media leverages lifecycle security services to continuously monitor and manage potential threats throughout a piece of content's entire economic lifecycle: smart client device agents proactively protect embedded or downloadable media applications from attack, and a security server monitors the agents' integrity and provides them with security updates.
  • Irdeto's ActiveCloak technology is already present in marquee solutions from major global cable operators and OTT providers including Netflix, Adobe, Sony, Logitech and Comcast, and is a critical part of the Boxee Box by D-Link.

Quotes

 

Martin Sendyk, SVP of Product at Irdeto:
"Consumers choose Android because it's easy to use, lower cost and compatible with Google applications; but as Android becomes more popular and pervasive, so too do the risks of piracy. Our new Android and HLS capabilities help CE manufacturers and operators ensure high-value content is protected on any platform."

"You cannot have a mobile or OTT strategy today without considering Android, and with the advent of Google TV, Android security has propelled into a critical issue that content providers must address. If it is not addressed, Android will fail in the premium content and subscription-based ecosystem. Ultimately, the media industry needs an Android security implementation that Hollywood endorses as the Android operating blossoms into more smartphones, tablets and devices.  We believe ActiveCloak for Media will be that solution."

Jason Blackwell, Senior Digital Media Analyst at ABI Research:
"The Android platform has long presented a conundrum for content distributors and operators: consumer demand keeps rising yet the open platform makes content owners hesitant to relinquish their premium content and endanger their business. Irdeto's announcement further demonstrates that dynamic software security may be the lynchpin in today's TV Everywhere, multi-device services. The ability to offer content protection for iOS- and Android- powered devices, as well as HLS streaming, positions Irdeto as a potential top security partner."

Links

Tags

  • #TVEverywhere, #TVE11, #Android
  • Tweet this: @Irdeto takes dynamic #security across all platforms by adding support for #Android #TVEverywhere
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Contacts

Katie Judd
Racepoint Group
781-487-4656
irdetoUS@racepointgroup.com

Alex Rassey
Irdeto
760-795-2760
alex.rassey@irdeto.com

About Irdeto

Irdeto is the most innovative software security and media technology company in the world. Through its dynamic security and monetization technologies, the company allows new forms of distribution for broadcast/broadband/mobile entertainment, and for the world's most popular app, eStores and consumer devices. Co-headquartered in Amsterdam and Beijing, Irdeto employs 1000 people in 25 locations around the world. It is a subsidiary of broad-based media group Naspers (JSE: NPN). Please visit Irdeto at www.irdeto.com.

 

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