The rise in the consumption of streaming content and the resultant increase in piracy attacks has made forensic watermarking solutions almost ubiquitous in the content security approaches of content producers and distributors. While DRM-protected content helps restrict unauthorized access to premium streaming content, watermarking solutions act as an additional layer of security to prevent piracy attacks at the user level.
Watermarking solutions can be implemented either on the server-side, client-side, or a combination of the two (“hybrid approach”). Often piracy attacks are attempted at the level of the client device itself and not at the level of distributors. They take place in regions that have low legal compliance of copyright laws. Peer-to-peer sharing is one of the major ways of piracy from the client device. Simulcasting and cam-recording are also often used to illegally distribute content in these markets. Client-side video watermarking can help identify the infringing users and allow copyright holders to take necessary action against repeat offenders.
The low-cost implications, rapid extraction, and fast deployability across platforms, including legacy set-top boxes, have made client-side watermarking a popular choice for OTT providers, which they apply on DRM-protected content. In client-side watermarking, the user-related information is inserted in the video asset which is unique to each device. While the server transmits the same encrypted version of the original asset to all client devices, a client-specific secret is used to decrypt the content – this is done through the DRM technology – as well as embed a personalized watermark, thereby creating a uniquely watermarked version of the content.
The client-side watermarking information can be embedded in each video frame without disturbing the viewing experience. Client-side video watermarking should be deployed alongside a robust DRM since the watermark is not applied unless the content reaches the client device.
In high-piracy regions, studios and OTT platforms rely on the client-side watermarking method as it lets them identify repeat offenders. This approach bears fruit during live events since there is a high demand for this type of content only for the duration of the event. A forensic watermarking vendor helps studios extract client-side watermarks and share the user information with them within a matter of minutes.
