Las Vegas – Looking to stay ahead of what could be a new wave of streaming piracy focused on ultra-premium content, Friend MTS has launched a 4K variant of its “ASiD” digital watermarking and video security platform.  

The launch complements Friend MTS’s video security services for standard- and high-definition content. Friend MTS’ core business is focused on live sports and other forms of premium entertainment, and uses fingerprint-based content recognition that is invisible to the viewer.

Friend MTS is pitching the new 4K variant as part of its overall security-as-a-service offering, which can be customized based on the distribution or content partner. The company didn’t announce any takers for the 4K component early on, but possible candidates could come way of its existing customer base, which includes NBC Sports, DirecTV, Univision, the Premier League, Sky, beIN Sports, and Foxtel, among others.  

RELATED: DirecTV Sets Slate of Live TV in 4K and HDR 

The new 4K variant, like Friends MTS’s other video security services, aims to identify and lock-down pirated streams within minutes, not hours. That small window is critical, especially with live sporting events, which diminish in value soon after they are concluded.  

The scale of streaming of sports piracy is “staggering,” Neil Sharpe, product marketing director at Friend MTS, said here at a press conference, noting that digital rights management and conditional access systems aren’t enough to take down this growing and increasingly sophisticated threat.  

He said the impact among rights owners and broadcasters is significant as they tend to deal with “thousands” of illegal streams over any given weekend.  

Automation and the ability to identify and deactivate illegal streams within five minutes is paramount. “The scale of this task is not appropriate for manual intervention,” Sharpe said.  

And while 720p resolution today is the most popular format for illegal streaming, because it delivers a “good enough” HD experience for big screen TVs without much worry about buffering, he said 4K-level streaming piracy is on the horizon as more events are produced and delivered in that format alongside the emergence of faster and faster broadband services.  

Friend MTS this week was awarded an Emmy for Technology and Engineering for its efforts around video identification technology used to protect content value and copyright.  

Sharpe also noted that digital video piracy has becoming increasingly sophisticated amid threats from illegal streaming devices and Kodi plug-ins, mobile apps, social media outlets and websites that are purveyors of ill-gotten content.  

RELATED: TV’s Scary New Threat (subscription required)  

At the same time, these pirate services have become more professional-looking and are branded to mimic legitimate pay TV channels and services, making it a struggle for some consumers to realize the difference.  

Industry vet Frank Romeo has joined Alticast Americas as senior vice president of business development at the video software and security company.

Romeo takes on the role previously held by Jae Park, who was recently named president and general manager of Alticast Americas.

RELATED: Jae Park to Head Alticast Americas 

In his new role, Romeo will be tasked with growing Alticast’s business in North and South America.

Romeo most recently was SVP of new business development at Humax USA, and has previously held marketing and business development-focused slots with consumer electronics giants that included Samsung and Panasonic.

“I’m extremely pleased that Frank will be joining our team,” Park said, in a statement. “He not only brings a wealth of experience but a well-regarded familiarity of our existing customers. This expertise will prove critical as we accelerate our business growth in North and South America and grow our customer base by cultivating new and innovative solutions that our industry is demanding.”

Video software and security company Alticast has named Jae Park president and general manager of Alticast Americas, where he’ll oversee operations, sales and business development for the North and South America regions.

Park, a 15-year vet of the company, most recently served as VP of business development at Alticast, on board to help execute the company’s deal with Videotron for the Canadian operator’s illico 2 video service (Videotron is also working toward a next-gen IPTV platform that will lean on an X1 licensing deal with Comcast).

RELATED: Alticast Softens Up Videotron’s Multi-Room DVR

"Jae brings an impressive track record of strategic, operational and sales development to this position. He is proven to be a successful and trusted leader through his ability to foster and grow relationships with his team members and customers,” Alticast CEO Mansoo Han, said in a statement. “He will be instrumental in leading our business efforts in the North and Latin American markets to help grow our footprint while continuing to meet the needs of our customers. Jae represents the next generation of leadership for Alticast.”

John Carlucci, the former president and CTO of Alticast’s U.S. division, is now president and chief strategist of Petrichor Networks, a startup focused on cloud video technology.

RELATED: Former Time Warner Cable, Arris Execs Lead Petrichor Networks

Nagra and Samsung have jointly introduced TVkey, a USB-based direct-to-TV security platform for pay TV operators that enables consumers to sign up and pay for TV services directly on Samsung TVs.

Nagra said the device meets all key MovieLabs requirements for Enhanced Content Protection, a component required by Hollywood for 4K/UHD and High Dynamic Range HDR fare, movies offered in early release windows and other high-value content.

The product’s framework is based on a Nagra-designed root of trust in TV chips that communicates securely with the TVkey device. It also use hardware-based watermarking and operator-controlled device service revocation, the company said.

Nagra said TVkey will open up several customer acquisition models and options for pay TV operators, including retail bundling with TV sets and special content packages.  It can also be made to support free preview periods without the need for a separate set-top box.

The first TVkey market deployment will occur in Q4 2016, with multiple “leading pay-TV operators across two continents” slated to launch TVkey-based services in 2017, the companies said.

Samsung is the first announced TV partner, but the platform’s “framework” will be made available to other TV makers and security vendors.  

As part of that plan, Nagra and Samsung plan next year to create an “independent”  TVkey Trust Authority to license the TVkey technology to others.

Nagra will show off TVkey at next week’s IBC show in Amsterdam. 

Cisco Systems and Roku said they are working together to enable Cisco’s Cisco VideoGuard Everywhere video service protection platform on Roku’s streaming players and integrated Roku TVs.

Cisco VideoGuard Everywhere, a software-based video security product whose roots stem from Cisco’s $5 billion acquisition of NDS in 2012, will also be used to support Charter Communications’ Spectrum TV app for Roku devices, they said.

Cisco and Roku added that they are collaborating to pre-integrate  VideoGuard Everywhere, a security system that compasses both conditional access and digital rights management, into Roku firmware starting next month. All Roku devices will be automatically upgraded to include Cisco security software.

Initial features and services the security integration support on Charter’s Spectrum TV app for Roku devices will include secure video-on-demand and linear TV playback, as well as control the number of devices that can be used simultaneously per subscriber account.

Charter is deploying the VideoGuard Everywhere solution across its systems, including the MSO’s new IP-capable “Worldbox” and Charter Spectrum TV apps offered on a variety of consumer electronic devices such as PCs, tablets and phones.

In February, Charter shed a bit more light on its downloadable security system, telling the FCC in a filing that it had completed two national centralized data centers to support the MSO’s new platform. Pursuing a retail option for that downloadable system was part of a set-top waiver that the FCC granted to Charter in 2013 that allowed the MSO to deploy dual-security boxes as it developed and deployed the new downloadable security platform. The FCC, meanwhile, is trying to move forward on new set-top rules that would apply to cable operators and other MVPDs and aim to "unlock" the set-top and spark a more vibrant retail market for video devices (the cable industry has argued that a new government mandate is unnecessary because the retail market for video devices that are capable of supporting pay TV is evolving amid natural market forces.). 

“We are always looking ahead for ways to make our customer experience better, providing more flexibility and options for accessing the television content people want to watch,” said Jim Blackley, Charter’s executive vice president, Engineering and IT, in a statement. “By expanding the Cisco downloadable security solution to our Spectrum TV App channel on Roku streaming devices, we can better control device streaming rights and functions within the home without compromising on the experience.” 

“We have been working closely with Roku to deliver a lower-cost, easy-to-deploy software security solution leading to innovative services like the Spectrum TV app on the Roku platform,” said Rajeev Raman, senior director of Strategy, Studio Design, and Product Management, Video Software and Solutions, Cisco. “Charter has been a pioneer in the industry for downloadable security to give its customers more options to watch what they want on the devices they want in their homes.”

“Utilizing the fast growing Roku streaming platform in combination with the Cisco VideoGuard Everywhere security solution enables operators to simply and securely deliver their branded video streaming services to the home, and optimally manage digital sharing rights for their content library,” added Andrew Ferrone, vice president of pay TV at Roku. “With this powerful combination, Charter continues to offer its pay-TV customers unique options to watch TV in ways that fit their lifestyles.” 

The nine largest incumbent U.S. cable operators have deployed 54 million CableCARDs in MSO-supplied set-tops versus just 618,000 of the removable security modules in TiVo boxes, TVs and other retail products that sport a CableCARD slot, per the National Cable & Telecommunications Association’s latest report to the FCC.

That’s an increase of 1 million versus the 53 million CableCARDs that those same operators had deployed when the NCTA filed its previous report in August, and a mere 1,000 more CableCARDs in retail devices.

The NCTA has been issuing these reports since the FCC’s ban on integrated security set-tops took effect in July 2007. Thepassing of the STELAR Act, which became law on Dec. 4, 2014, activated a provision that will sunset the FCC’s current ban on integrated security set-tops after a year.

The FCC has since been focusing on a potential successor to the CableCARD based on downloadable security systems that could be applied to cable operators as well as other MVPDs, including telcos and satellite TV providers.

As part of that pursuit, the FCC-appointed the Downloadable Security Technology Advisory Committee (DSTAC), which in August presented multiple non-CableCARD options, I ncluding an apps-based approach favored by cable operators and an AllVid-style approach favored by others, including Google, that discuss the implementation of a “virtual headend” and a government-specified gateway devices that can unite video from various MVPDs. http://www.multichannel.com/news/next-tv/fcc-group-presents-multiple-non-cablecard-paths/393305

Interested parties filed comments on the final DSTAC report in early October. A summary of those comments are available here. Reply comments are due Nov. 9, 2015. 

The FCC announced Thursday that it has rescheduled the first-ever meeting of the Downloadable Security Technology Advisory Committee (DSTAC) for Monday, Feb. 23, starting at 10 a.m. ET.

The meeting was originally scheduled for Tuesday (Feb. 17), but was cancelled after a snowstorm caused a shutdown of all federal offices in the Washington, D.C., area.

An FCC-appointed group of 18 execs and specialists from companies and organizations that include Comcast, Public Knowledge, AT&T, TiVo, Amazon, Evolution Digital and the Motion Picture Association of America, make up the committee. The DSTAC was formed soon after the STELAR Act became law on Dec. 5, 2014, activating a provision that will sunset the FCC’s current ban on set-tops with integrated security after a year.

The DSTAC is tasked with filing a report with the Commission by September 4, 2015.

During next week’s meeting, the DSTAC will focus on the scope of that report, the ultimate goals of the effort with respect to navigation device and content security, and recommend working groups and the tasks they’ll be assigned.