HBO to Track Pirated Reviewer Copies
Pay-TV Network Will Use Thomson Watermarking Technology to Embed Digital IDs Into Screeners
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 9/12/2007 11:59:00 AM
Hoping to prevent its original shows from making the leap to the Internet before they’re aired, HBO will use digital-watermarking technology from Paris-based Thomson to embed unique IDs into copies of screeners provided to reviewers.
Thomson’s Shield Forensic system inserts an invisible barcode identifier into every frame of a piece of video. The ID, which is associated with the intended recipient, can then be read if the video surfaces, say, on an Internet file-sharing service -- allowing HBO to trace the illicit video back to its source.
A year ago, HBO was caught off guard when the entire fourth season of crime drama The Wire was discovered being sold in East Coast nightclubs and on Internet auction sites before the 13-episode series had finished its run. DVDs of the Peabody Award-winning series, a critical success if not a ratings smash, had been widely distributed to reviewers earlier in the summer.
Watermarking technology won’t prevent copying or restrict playback as digital-rights management tools do, but it will allow HBO to track down violators.
“They want to track the misuse of this content,” said Eric Serre, product manager for content security at Thomson’s Grass Valley division. “It’s program content that has never been aired, so they’re very anxious that copies are not made before the air date.”
The Thomson system, Serre claimed, is resistant to traditional attacks like rotating, cropping or compressing video intended to circumvent identification technologies.
HBO vice president of corporate affairs Jeff Cusson said the network does not currently embed watermarks in its broadcast signals. Otherwise, he declined to comment on the project beyond information included in the press release issued with Thomson.
Other programmers have selectively used similar watermarking techniques, including NBC Universal for certain movie and TV content and FX, which used the technology in distributing prerelease copies of the new Glenn Close series Damages. Showtime Networks does not currently use watermarking but has plans to, VP of corporate public relations Stuart Zakim said.
HBO will install the Thomson system initially at three sites, including its main playout facility in Hauppauge, N.Y.
At each location, the system will include a database server to synchronize and manage each watermarking platform; DVD-marking stations with built-in DVD burners; systems to watermark high-definition and standard-definition content in real time to tape; an “investigator platform” to track down pirated content; and other components.
Watermarking technologies can also be used in cable set-top boxes to embed IDs in video streams. That way, operators and programmers can identify a specific subscriber who illegally uploads cable shows to the Internet, Serre said. Thomson currently has two set-top watermarking trials underway in different parts of the world.
“We have a solution to get the subscriber details and watermark [video] for each individual viewer,” he said.
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