Widevine Awarded Patent for Next Generation Content Protection

Posted by Admin on Wednesday, March 01, 2006 - 11:31 pm:

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Patent Covers Downloadable Conditional Access, Mobile Media DRM and Copy Protection of High Definition DVD Formats

Widevine® Technologies, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Patent Office has issued a new patent which provides intellectual property protection for next generation content protection.

The new patent U.S. 7,007,170 B2 is intended to provide a licensed solution for next generation content protection systems which are focused on downloadable conditional access, mobile media security and copy protection of high definition DVD formats such as Blu-ray®, HD-DVD and other formats. This is the third issued patent for Widevine, represented by Darby and Darby. Other patents issued to Widevine include U.S. 6,449,719 B1 and U.S. 6,965,993 B2.

According to Glenn Morten, chief technical officer of Widevine and the patent's author, "For many years Widevine has envisioned high definition formats as a key enabler in the convergence of consumer electronics and digital television. Widevine anticipated copy protection for high definition media formats such as HD-DVD and Blu-ray must be more robust than previous solutions. The new high definition formats will help facilitate convergence of consumer electronics and digital television. With this new patent, Widevine also fosters consumption of entertainment on mobile devices and retail available devices with reduced fear of digital content theft."

Some of the important concepts taught in this patent include:

• use of selective encryption to copy protect content;
• uniquely binding a key pair to a player;
• employment of user identity to gain access to the key chain;
• private key associated with a public key, the private key being constrained to the player apparatus;
• player that possesses tamper detection and response agents;
• tamper response mechanisms such as erasing the content, locking the apparatus from an operation, erasing the private key, erasing the content key and reporting the unauthorized action.

"Widevine is focused on reducing the capital and operational expenses incurred in delivery of digital entertainment for video operators worldwide. The issuance of this patent is significant to the secure consumption of content on retail consumer equipment," said Brian Baker, chief executive officer of Widevine. "The Patent Office has clearly recognized the unique offerings developed by Widevine and rewarded its partners, employees and shareholders with the intellectual property protection that patents offer."

About Widevine Technologies, Inc.
Widevine enables telco, cable, satellite and internet service operators to generate new revenue opportunities through the secure distribution, identification and tracking of digital content. Widevine is a privately held corporation headquartered in Seattle, WA.