SAN FRANCISCO -- A specification offering true end-to-end video content protection, ISMACryp 1.1, has been released to the industry by the Internet Streaming Media Alliance, a trade association developing open standards for the IPTV industry. ISMACryp 1.1 already has been deployed in 111,000 terminals as part of the first mobile TV implementation in Europe, and incorporated into DVB-H, a mobile TV standard adopted by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).

The revised specification addresses the encryption of H.264/AVC video and HE-AAC audio for RTP transport and storage in MPEG-4 files. While other protection schemes safeguard content only when it is being transmitted, ISMACryp 1.1 provides end-to-end encryption starting at the source so that the content can be safely stored and streamed later. ISMACryp 1.1-protected content can be used on any network or device.

The final specification has been validated with a set of 100 test files and four reference implementations, including one from Envivio Inc., France Telecom, Fraunhofer IIS, and a source-code reference. As usual, all the materials are available to members; in addition, test files and reference code are available to non-members that participate in the ISMA product conformance program.

Secures First World DVB-H Commercial Mobile TV Deployment

As a result of the Alliance’s cooperative outreach to other organizations when developing the specification, ISMACryp 1.1 already has been incorporated into DVB-H, a mobile TV standard from the Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) consortium that includes over 270 broadcasters, manufacturers, network operators and others in over 35 countries. ETSI has endorsed DVB-H.

In June 2006, the leading Italian mobile media company controlled by Hutchison Whampoa Group, 3 Italia, launched the first commercial DVB-H deployment in the world with its mobile TV service. Nagravision, a market leader in open conditional access and an ISMA member who helped develop ISMACryp, was selected to provide service protection. As a result, 3 Italia digital mobile TV’s programming was successfully delivered in a single month to more than 110,000 consumers with DVB-H video-enabled TV phones using ISMACryp 1.1 technology. The service was launched with the dramatic FIFA World Cup event and continues to deliver secure TV services such as Mediaset, RAI and Sky Italia.

According to Adrienne Corboud, Executive Vice President of Business Development, Nagravision, “The open interfaces defined in ISMACryp enabled us to rapidly integrate a feature-rich Conditional Access System into a standards-based architecture. This flexibility has enabled us to rapidly deploy our technology into new and emerging markets.”

Internet Streaming Media Alliance (ISMA)