Irdeto bought Canadian company Cloakware in the dying days of 2007 and this week built its Over The Top strategy around the software company. Cloakware designs secure containers or secure kernels, which run on all major portable operating systems, so that the DRM and other programs above it are tougher to hack.
With the release this week of ActiveCloak for Media, Irdeto is trying to spin it that it constitutes a major rethink for approaching the protection of commercial media, because it can underpin content that comes for multiple sources, and runs on multiple devices, with downloadable, and therefore software only, DRM systems. What it is not saying, but which must be clearly part and parcel of this approach, is that it can be priced in such a way that it can work just as easily with TV Everywhere approaches which are given away for free, as well as paid OTT services.
US Rival Widevine has taken most of the headlines for TV Everywhere content protection so far, and has acknowledged that pricing needs a different approach in order to reflect the new TV Everywhere business models.
The ActiveCloak for Media idea is being pushed like it is an anti-virus software, with a lightweight downloadable client (complete with what it calls agents) being able to block the illegal saving of streamed media or hacking of downloaded media, which also recognizes and logs when an attempt has been made to break into the content, and then blocks future attempts. It includes the concept of frequent updates, like virus signatures, but made up instead of new algorithms which change the way keys are derived and put in place specific protections for any hacking attempts.
Renewable software security is not new, but Irdeto has been one of the leaders in it, though the idea of slamming the door shut after detecting any attempt to put encrypted content in the clear, and then initiating a software download to provide a replacement tool or decryption key, is new. Most renewable systems require sending an update to every device whenever a weakness is found, but by the description this looks like the client refuses to play content until it has had an update, so it is triggered by a client agent.
The reason that it’s hard to say exactly what’s going on here is because Irdeto hasn’t put any white papers on its web site explaining this in detail, but it has put up a few diagrams listing all the jobs that Cloakware has to do, including offering APIs to billing and content management systems, and we get the feeling that Irdeto might be just as happy to host this as a service for operator clients, as it would to simply sell the tools.
Irdeto say that this system answers the question of how you can keep Hollywood happy when content is being delivered over the Internet and stored on portable devices in untrusted environments? Which, after all, is the Holy Grail in this market. Even the DLNA has not managed to get Hollywood to say that it’s okay to keep content copies on portable devices, which is why the DTCP-IP protection it uses is purely for streamed content, not downloaded.
Irdeto says that ActiveCloak for Media is the only dynamic security system to protect high value assets throughout their entire lifecycle. ‘Premium content is the lifeblood of the entertainment industry, and DRM alone cannot protect critical digital assets from the persistent attacks of today’s savvy hackers. Whether you create the content or distribute it, it must be protected from every angle,’ said Graham Kill, CEO of Irdeto. ‘With ActiveCloak for Media, Irdeto will enable content providers to take advantage of these exploding market opportunities and monetize their content without jeopardizing content owner relationships and having to compromise their digital media business models.’
While DRM systems use encryption and rights expressions to ensure that digital entertainment is used appropriately, the DRM itself is often a target for attack. Even when implemented using modern device-specific hardware security, DRM is not always able to withstand and recover from attacks on increasingly open (read Android) platforms.
ActiveCloak for Media is said to take application protection to a new level with integrated renewability, diverse security and piracy monitoring all built in. and running on tablets, smartphones, iPads, PCs, connected TVs, game consoles and hybrid set tops.
Irdeto says that Cloakware technology is already present in online systems from Netflix, Adobe, Sony, Logitech and Comcast, and is a critical part of the Boxee Box by D-Link. When we have spoken to rival companies who have sneered at the idea of Cloakware, the Irdeto response and been to say, ‘Then why do they license it from us,’ which has never officially been confirmed, but would be a hell of an endorsement if true.
Already Irdeto says that major global cable operators will be using ActiveCloak for Media customers and the only major cable company that is global sounds like Liberty Global, which would be a significant customer win and highly unlikely since the project for its OTT box is being put together by rival Irdeto NDS. But then again if NDS were to license Cloakware, then it could conceivably be true.
Irdeto says that the system solution will initially address the secure playback of recorded content from a PVR to a PC and the secure streaming of VOD content from the Internet to set tops or iOS or Android devices. Irdeto also plans to extend ActiveCloak to protect eBooks, apps and games.
Irdeto already has its own head-end-based watermarking technology and has recently been awarded patents in the US for its approach, which is the final cement missing from this security eco-system, so that if content finds its way onto the internet, it can be tracked down to the device where the hack took place.
We’re not expert enough to say if this is a genuine breakthrough in technological terms, but if it turns the heads in Hollywood, it would put Irdeto in a strong position to sweep up a number of prime contracts as everyone races to OTT hybrid systems.