TelcoTV: Widevine brings DRM to mobile and PC video

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Conditional access provider Widevine is bringing its digital rights management capabilities to mobile video and PC-based viewing as well via a unified content protection platform.

Here at the TelcoTVshow, Widevine is demonstrating its Virtual Smart Card system, which can be downloaded onto an iPhone or similar device, and onto a PC as well.

“What we are demonstrating is the ability to do linear broadcast video-on-demand directly to the PC,” said Amanda Burrows, marketing manager for Widevine. “The system takes MPEG-2 transport and translates it into native players with encryption and digital content protection.”

This approach allows more screens in the home, as well as the ability to take the video on the road via a mobile device. The Widevine virtual smart card contains the business rules for who can watch video and where, according to the content provider’s stipulations. For example, it will enable subscribers to view linear TV on a PC within the home but won’t allow a copy of the video content to be burned to a disk or storage device unless that is allowed under the service providers’ business rules, Burrows said.

“Whatever service package is available to the set-top box is applied to the PC,” Burrows said. The virtual smart cards are software clients that can be pushed out to the mobile device or PC, she added.

To date, interest in the system is coming from Internet video players that want to enable customers to download movies or other video content and provide the conditional access protection required by content owners, Burrows said.