Five years ago this week… French DRM innovator Inside Secure announced plans to fully acquire its larger US-based VC-funded rival Verimatrix. The two presented similar offerings in content protection and DRM, without a significant customer, technology or geographical overlap. Inside Secure mainly applied to apps on handsets, while Verimatrix supplied multi-DRM to some 800 operator customers at the time. Both saw their future in protecting IoT end-points, like connected cars, and a union would accelerate the innovation in those immature sectors. The deal was finalized in February 2019 for some $156 million, and the merged entity took on the Verimatrix branding in July that year. Charter Communications has warned of a potential Q4 broadband subscriber slump, following its earlier guidance…