ADB Integrates Civolution's Watermarking Technology to Protect VOD Content

Geneva-based set-top box company, Advanced Digital Broadcast (note: the company, generally referred to as ADB, is the corporate stablemate of interactive TV software and services specialists, Vidiom Systems and Osmosys), announced Monday that it has integrated Civolution's VTrack watermarking technology into its digital set-top boxes, in order to provide operators with another means to protect content, in addition to their chosen conditional access solution. "The integration of VTrack in ADB's set-top boxes shows VTrack's flexibility in integrating with different platforms ranging from cable, satellite, terrestrial to IPTV," Civolution CEO, Alex Terpstra, said in a prepared statement. "VTrack is a robust and easy-to-integrate solution. Now with the increased availability of high-definition and early-release content, the (camera) capture and distribution of high-quality content copies is a new threat requiring fast, efficient and cost-effective solutions." Added ADB CEO, Francois Pogodalla: "ADB is proud to be one of the first set-top box companies to integrate such a solution onto its products. Considering the development of home networking, which enables content to flow freely between multiple consumer devices, ADB believes that the industry will welcome our efforts to offer an extra layer of content protection, in addition to today's conditional access solutions."

As a result of the integration, the companies say, ADB's set-tops will embed a unique watermark into video material each time an on-demand program is distributed, thus enabling content owners to identify the source of any potential copies. According to the companies, the VTrack watermark will survive camcorder capture and subsequent degradation of content through Internet usage.