CableLabs has published its first specification for "TV Everywhere" services, developed with Comcast and Time Warner Cable, which is designed to provide common authentication and authorization methods for online video.
The consortium's Online Content Access (OLCA) project is intended to provide the technical requirements and architecture for the delivery of video to pay-TV customers from different online sources using existing Web standards "to the extent possible."
The 69-page document detailing the Authentication and Authorization Interface 1.0 specification, published Oct. 29, is available here: www.cablelabs.com/specifications/CL-SP-AUTH1.0-I01-101029.pdf. CableLabs announced the release of the initial spec Monday in its September-October 2010 newsletter.
"There is an interest among MVPDs [multichannel video programming distributors] and programmers in developing common architectures, interfaces, and operations for online content access services," CableLabs said in its overview for the spec. "It is their belief that a common approach will offer greater choice to consumers, expanding the service to include more service providers as well as enable competition among technology providers to support the market."
