Broadpeak has integrated NAGRA NexGuard watermarking on its BkS400 caching server to protect live and VOD content on every screen, providing a session-based watermarking solution for the video streaming market.
NexGuard leverages adaptive bitrate (ABR) streaming technology to create a unique watermark for each session on live and file-based video streams on the server side. The technology is designed to support Apple HLS, Microsoft Smooth Streaming, and MPEG-DASH and is compliant with several digital rights management (DRM) methods. The integration is intended to provide pay TV operators with a way to identify illegal redistribution of video content and protect their revenue streams while preserving the benefits of video caching.
"Today's pay TV operators are increasingly relying on adaptive bitrate streaming to address the consumer demand for video on every screen. Yet, in the OTT multiscreen environment, illegal streaming is a major challenge," said Jean-Philippe Plantevin, vice president, product and operations antipiracy, at NAGRA. "By partnering with Broadpeak, we're able to help operators protect their investment in premium live and VOD content without impacting the user streaming experience."
NexGuard creates uniquely identified video, on the fly, that can then be streamed by operators to millions of end users on any device. If a stream is illegally redistributed, operators can identify the source of the piracy through the watermark attached to each piece of content. Session-based watermarking is preintegrated in the content delivery network (CDN) and managed at the edge in the compressed and encrypted domain, without latency or impact on the streaming capacity.
"Protection is a key requirement for premium pay TV content, especially live sports and Hollywood movies, and today's operators need to react quickly to stop illegal streaming," said Jacques Le Mancq, CEO at Broadpeak. "NexGuard gives operators a significant advantage in the video streaming market, leveraging state-of-the-art watermarking technology from NAGRA and our widely deployed caching server. Each stream is individually provided a watermark during the video streaming phase, allowing secure video delivery on a massive scale. That capability, along with rapid detection and identification of the piracy source, results in successful OTT service delivery."