Protection of digital content on its creation
The EC funded project MUFFINS explored the field of location, delivery and protection of multimedia content and developed an integrated framework for retrieval, transport and consumption of multimedia resources. Part of the project work involved the development of the Streaming Platform, a hardware device that has been designed on the basis of another Optibase product, the MovieMaker 400. The innovative platform offers users increased capabilities of acquisition and encoding of audio-visual input, as well as, insertion of watermarks and encryption of the content, all in real-time. Moreover, there are also options for real time broadcast or storage on a storage device for later use. The device comprises the media decoder, the encryption, watermarking and streaming modules, as well as, the File Multiplex/Demultiplex and the Control System components. It features compactness as its size can easily fit into any standard PC and encoding capabilities up to FD1 resolution in real time. It also displays special transaction watermarking capabilities that allow direct inscription of information into the sound signal via advanced signal processing techniques. Simultaneously, it offers top quality audio encoding, and supports live streaming using either unicast or multicast network channels for both on-demand and broadcast scenarios. By applying protection measures, while creating the media and consuming content at the moment of its creation, the device is a significant breakthrough development. It is expected that this Streaming Platform will substantially contribute to the augmented consumption of multimedia, while it will effectively protect content from media piracy. The platform could benefit content owners and providers in protection of their assets, as well as, service providers in developing new relevant services. Further collaborations are also sought with consumer device manufactures for generating media player devices compliant with its content protection mechanisms. Finally, media protection experts are also welcome for further improvements concerning the device's reliability.
