MY CONTENT IS BEING PIRATEDIs forensic watermarking the answer?

figure 1a. Person with the same question.

It’s true, online pirates are becoming more sophisticated. They’re

continually adapting their approach to steal viewers from legitimate

providers. With broadband access becoming the norm and the availability

of new devices as well as plugins it is easier than ever for your content to be

pirated.

Forensic watermarking is a vital element to any anti-piracy program. The

technology, which embeds an invisible unique mark into your content, allows

you to identify the source of the pirated content. That’s exactly what you

need – right? Your content is marked, now there’s no doubt that it’s yours.

“To successfully fight online piracy requires a combination of the latest technology and

proactive services”

But how are you going to detect that your content has been pirated, that it’s

being watched illegally? What about implementing countermeasures such as

take down of pirated content and pirate sites? Or identifying the real people

behind the pirate organization to take further action: shutting down their

operations?

Let’s face it, no matter how good the watermarking solution is, just having

the technology on its own will only help uniquely mark your content.

Nothing more.

To successfully fight online piracy you need a combination of the latest

technology and proactive services. There’s no one size fits all approach.

The battle lines against online piracy can differ for each provider. Having

a really good view of the size and nature of your piracy problem helps you

understand what you’re up against.

figure 1b. Pirate.

Understanding the lay of the land for your situation means that you will be in

a better position to fight the pirates. With this insight, you are able to tailor

your combat strategies more effectively.

One way to do this is to undertake a threat landscape assessment. The

comprehensive exercise examines all aspects including:

• Pirate linking and streaming sites

• IPTV suppliers including channels they offer, subscription price and device

types supported

• Torrent sites

• Cyberlocker sites

• Illegal adverts for devices and subscriptions

This extensive report is worth the investment. After all, it ensures that you’re

investing your anti-piracy budget wisely and are focusing on the areas that

will have most impact.

Knowing what’s out there

figure 2. Seeing what’s tried and tested

To help you put together an anti-piracy program here are some recommended

elements which are tried and tested. You will see how watermarking fits into

the bigger picture.

The availability of UHD and HDR quality content combined with the

technology advancements means that it’s even easier and more attractive for

pirates to redistribute your premium content. Knowing where the content

was pirated from helps you take effective countermeasures or refine your

content distribution process to protect your investments.

Marking what’s yours

Backed by HollywoodThis is echoed in the moves by the studios. They have taken a stronger

security stance around early release movies, for UHD content particularly.

The MovieLabs Enhanced Content Protection guidelines are a clear line

in the sand. If pay-media providers want premium UHD content, then

they should implement watermarking. The business driver here is mainly

preventative, by letting the end-user know that the content is watermarked;

you remove the anonymity of the theft.

Part of game planThe sports world is also starting to advocate watermarking for HD and

UHD content. Here there’s a different driver. In this situation, there’s a

short revenue window, as the value of sports content diminishes with every

passing minute of the game. Piracy has an immediate impact. Identifying

the source of the leak and shutting down the pirate streams are essential

within the duration of the game. figure 3. Yours

“If pay-media providers want premium UHD content then they should implement

watermarking”

At a very basic level, watermarking is the process of invisibly embedding a

unique, persistent digital mark into content to uniquely identify the originator.

In other words, the content owner and authorized user. Watermarking can’t

prevent online piracy but it does make it much easier for that marked content

to be identified and traced back to the source, if it is leaked or accessed

illegally. It’s an important step in mitigating content redistribution piracy.

What’s the difference?There can be a misperception that fingerprinting and watermarking are the

same. Unlike watermarking which allows you to trace back to the source

of the leak, content fingerprinting is only about validation. With content

fingerprinting a summary of a video segment is created in such a way that

similar videos can be compared and matched by automated systems. This

means it is possible to validate if the content found on a pirate stream is the

same as the legal original version. But it won’t allow you to identify the

source of the leak.

How does it work?

figure 4. How it works

“Unlike watermarking which allows you to trace back to the source of the leak, content fingerprinting is only

about validation.”

For the content owner, watermarking helps identify which distributor the leak

is coming from. This allows them to take the necessary the necessary rights

enforcement measures to protect the value of their content.

What’s this mean for your business? Studios, for instance, can proactively

manage their distributors and weed out those whose security doesn’t come up

to scratch. By doing this, studios can extend the high value release window

for their premium content, resulting in greater profit.

And if I license the content?When it comes to pay-media operators, or the licensee of the content,

session-based watermarking enables them to identify which OTT account or

smart card the pirate stream is coming from. Once identified they are able

to shut down the pirating account and redirect viewers of the illegal stream

back to legitimate viewing options. It’s also possible to take follow up action

against the pirate. If that approach matches your business policies.

What’s the businessbenefit?

figure 5. The business benefit.

Where’s the business benefit? It enables pay-media operators to demonstrate

to the content owners that their security is of the highest standards. You never

know, this could translate into securing the latest movie releases or premium

sports content. By offering such content, the pay-media operators are able to

retain and/or attract subscribers by providing compelling programs as part of

their subscription packages.

Detection of pirated content is done using sophisticated web crawlers to

identify content, both live and video-on-demand (VOD), using instruction

sets contained within target profiles. Yes, it’s that simple. A wide array of

sites is checked, including link aggregation, live streaming and torrent sites

as well as web video and cyberlockers.

Being smart about itThe real trick when it comes to detection is using an intelligence based

approach. Knowing which of the many sites have the highest volumes. Why

spend your budget on detecting leaked content on only sites which have

a few hundred hits? You want to target the ones with the most eyeballs –

don’t you? And as you would expect, these sites vary depending on the type

of content and the country. Having the capability to regularly assess the

effectiveness and track the dynamic changing landscape, locally and globally,

increases the impact. You certainly wouldn’t want to be using a static list that

is never reviewed.

Detecting your piratedcontent

The other aspect to detection is automation. There are hundreds, if not

thousands of link aggregation sites out there offering your content for free.

Understandably, this means that there is a lot of data out there to be collected

and analyzed. Looking at each of these and validating them manually

would be impossible. A combination of an automated platform with human

verification is the most ideal. This means that the service swiftly identifies

infringing content, the streams are analyzed and validated with evidence

captured for inclusion in DMCA infringement notification.

“The real trick when it comes to detection is using an intelligence based approach.”

figure 6a. Hide and seek

This hybrid approach enables a rapid, cost-effective execution of the service

but with the right level of human intervention to maintain quality of service

(QoS) and outstanding customer service management.

Combining this capability with forensic watermarking ensures the rapid

detection, identification and disruption of all types of online piracy. You

have both the data and tools necessary to maximize the return on any content

investments.

What can the pirate information tell you?Information generated from the detection activity also provides valuable

insights for pay-media operators and content owners. In the case of live

sports, real-time reporting via an online portal, for instance, allows for

swift implementation of countermeasures. When it comes to VOD, this

information is a great source of business intelligence. It helps you identify

the unmet consumer demand. Maybe you need to offer more action movies,

or provide more foreign language options to keep your subscribers from

looking for pirated alternatives.figure 6b. Detecting your pirated content

figure 6c. Using detection information for business decisions.

Enforcing your rightsNow what? You’ve watermarked the content and it’s been detected. There’s

a number of options open to you: technical and non-technical. Here are a

couple as examples.

1. When unauthorized copies of content are discovered online, take down

or Digital Millennium Copyright Action (DMCA) notices are sent to

host sites. The purpose of which is to remove the infringing content.

The ultimate aim is to disrupt the piracy and redirect illegal viewers to a

legitimate platform to continue watching their chosen content.

2. Using the latest intelligence gathering and investigation capabilities

to find the people behind the pirate organization is another option. By

engaging a team of experts including trained investigators, legal and law

enforcement, cryptographers and analysts it is possible to gather evidence

about the services and devices that are being used as well as more about

the individuals running the pirate operations. If your business wants to

take it further, this evidence can be used to support civil action or criminal

prosecution.

Make sure you work with a partner with a proven track record. They

will have the required experience to successfully bring a case to court,

including the investigative skills, a complete understanding of the forensic

requirements and the chain of evidence. This makes it much easier for the

police to do their job. It facilitates further investigation and prosecution. In

fact, it can make a world of difference to the positive outcome of the case.

It’s worth emphasizing that the judicial process takes time. This doesn’t

happen overnight. But the end result is worth it. The pirate network is shut

down, justice is served and a strong message is sent to the community that

piracy is a crime.

figure 7. Enforcing rights.

Watermarking ispart of the answer

To read more about piracy and cybercrime, follow our Blog.

Share this ebook:There’s no doubt about it, watermarking has a critical role to play

as part of any successful anti-piracy program. But only having

watermarking technology will not be the most effective approach.

The winning formula to fight online piracy requires a combination of:

• State of the art forensic marking technologies which identify the

source of pirated content and allow for its immediate shutdown.

• Proactive enforcement and investigative services aimed at identifying

and prosecuting the parties involved in large commercial piracy

networks.

• Global partnerships with law enforcement, industry bodies and

agencies as well as consumer and technology providers.

figure 8. Successful pirate fighter