SmartRight copy protection initiative gaining momentum
To strengthen their joint effort to develop a global, renewable, and cost-effective copy protection system for digital home networks, Thomson, Canal+ Technologies, Gemplus, Micronas, Nagravision, Pioneer, SchlumbergerSema, and STMicroelectronics announce that SCM Microsystems, a provider of smart card reader technology and conditional access modules, is joining the SmartRight initiative.
Last fall, the SmartRight system was proposed to the Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) ad-hoc group on Copy Protection Technology in reply to a call for proposals on Copy Protection and Content Management technologies. SmartRight is a comprehensive framework meeting all commercial requirements in the call for proposal. The DVB Copy Protection Technology ad-hoc group, of which all SmartRight partners are active members, is currently working on defining the specification of the system that will be the standard for copy protection and content management for digital television environment in countries that employ the DVB technology, namely Europe and many countries in Latin America and Asia. SmartRight is considered by many industry players to constitute a good architecture for such a system. Since its creation last fall, the SmartRight group has been successfully working on refining the technical specifications and the business implementation of the SmartRight system, and it is gaining increasing support within the technology and content industry.
With the SmartRight system, content is kept scrambled as required throughout the consumer's personal home network until it is displayed on a rendering device. Descrambling is done in the rendering device, using a renewable security module, such as "smart card". This simple method provides end-to-end encryption security, and enables consumers to access content from any device of their personal private network.
@"SCM Microsystems remains committed to developing high-quality security standards that protect access to digital content," said Robert Schneider, CEO of SCM Microsystems, Inc. "SmartRight offers a solid framework for copy protection and control. As the pioneer of removable security for digital TV, SCM is pleased to work with other industry leaders in the SmartRight initiative to develop secure access standards that span all types of digital content and platforms."
The SmartRight system is designed to facilitate the business model for digital content delivery of all parties concerned, including content owners, and to enable the creation of value-added models. With an increasing number of companies showing their support, SmartRight is an initiative open to any interested party. "The support from our partners is key to the deployment of the SmartRight system, and strengthens our belief that SmartRight is a good solution for content protection that will help develop new digital business models", said Jean-Charles Hourcade, Senior Vice President, Research and Innovation at Thomson.
The progress in SmartRight development is regularly demonstrated at industry shows and exhibitions. Jointly with Micronas, a SmartRight demonstrator was showcased at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2002 in Las Vegas, USA, and SmartRight prototypes were presented at the Gemplus Developer Conference that took place in Singapore from November 12 to 14. All visitors of CES 2003 will also be welcome at the SmartRight technology pavilion.
Furthermore, the SmartRight team is proud to announce the launch of a website meant to provide all potential customers as well as technology and content providers with information related to the system.
With the SmartRight system, content is kept scrambled as required throughout the consumer's personal home network until it is displayed on a rendering device. Descrambling is done in the rendering device, using a renewable security module, such as "smart card". This simple method provides end-to-end encryption security, and enables consumers to access content from any device of their personal private network.
@"SCM Microsystems remains committed to developing high-quality security standards that protect access to digital content," said Robert Schneider, CEO of SCM Microsystems, Inc. "SmartRight offers a solid framework for copy protection and control. As the pioneer of removable security for digital TV, SCM is pleased to work with other industry leaders in the SmartRight initiative to develop secure access standards that span all types of digital content and platforms."
The SmartRight system is designed to facilitate the business model for digital content delivery of all parties concerned, including content owners, and to enable the creation of value-added models. With an increasing number of companies showing their support, SmartRight is an initiative open to any interested party. "The support from our partners is key to the deployment of the SmartRight system, and strengthens our belief that SmartRight is a good solution for content protection that will help develop new digital business models", said Jean-Charles Hourcade, Senior Vice President, Research and Innovation at Thomson.
The progress in SmartRight development is regularly demonstrated at industry shows and exhibitions. Jointly with Micronas, a SmartRight demonstrator was showcased at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2002 in Las Vegas, USA, and SmartRight prototypes were presented at the Gemplus Developer Conference that took place in Singapore from November 12 to 14. All visitors of CES 2003 will also be welcome at the SmartRight technology pavilion.
Furthermore, the SmartRight team is proud to announce the launch of a website meant to provide all potential customers as well as technology and content providers with information related to the system.
