Is Technology the Answer to Content Protection in the Digital Era?
Isa Seow is director of Technology Initiatives, Asia Pacific, of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), responsible for testing technology and formulating strategies to protect the content of MPA members in the region. He is also a director of Asia Pacific’s first Centre for Content Protection. Before joining the MPA, Seow served in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for two terms where he developed strategic technology projects, and policy frameworks and managed technology R&D initiatives. He has taught undergraduate courses in ICT Policy and Regulation at the National University of Singapore (NUS) since 2004.
Seow spoke recently on “Technology for Content Protection in the Digital Era” at a Wee Kim Wee Centre-sponsored talk at the Singapore Management University. According to Seow, content owners have to walk a fine line between meeting the expectations and needs of consumers while, at the same time, protecting their content from piracy and maximizing the profitability of their products.
Multiple Delivery Modes
With the pervasiveness of a multitude of interoperable content delivery platforms available to consumers, it is a real challenge for content owners to decide how best to deliver content such as movies and music to their consumers. Conventional video cassette tape production, printing, packaging, and delivery have given way to videotape content which can be transferred to a computer, turned into a digital movie file, and shared on the Internet with millions of other users.
Today’s Consumers can watch movies on portable devices such as mobile phones and media players such as the iPod, DVDs, computers, and high-definition television. Each platform has its content protection systems in place, and yet they are easily circumvented by enthusiasts who might falsely believe that the content is theirs to do with as they please. Consumers fail to realize that they are only licensees and that moving content from platform to platform is illegal, emphasized Seow. Other delivery platforms such as satellite, cable television, Internet Protocol television, web-based downloads, and peer-to-peer networks are hard to police once content is captured, especially on a digital platform such as a computer.
Content owners like Sony, Buena Vista, Universal, Paramount, Warner Brothers, and 20th Century Fox are members of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), formed in 1945 in the post-World War II era to place American films in the world market. It was also formed to counter protectionism against the import of American films into other countries. With hundreds of millions of dollars invested over the years in franchises such as Paramount’s Star Trek or
Indiana Jones, it comes as no surprise that the MPA is at the forefront of content protection technologies.
Extent of Content Piracy
Seow cited a major survey undertaken by the MPA and LEK, a strategy consulting firm, which revealed that major US motion picture studios lost US$6.1 billion to piracy worldwide in 2005. Of these losses, 80% resulted from piracy outside of the US and 20% from piracy within the US. About 62% percent of the losses came from the piracy of hard goods such as DVDs, while 38% was through the Internet. Piracy rates (calculated as legitimate revenue plus estimated revenue lost to piracy in each market) are highest in China (90%), Russia (79%), and Thailand (79%).
The MPA facilitates discussions and represents the copyright interests of the owners. Essentially, rights information needs to flow from one device and platform to the next so that the content is protected and the consumer gets the best value out of his purchase. With the explosion of the availability of various platforms and standards, one major issue is interoperability, said Seow. Consumers want to be able to watch movies at home, in their cars (for the kids), in their cruiser cabins, on the bus, and so on. Content needs to move from one platform to another seamlessly, but what gets in the way is a misunderstanding between device manufacturers and content producers.
Evolution of Content Protection
Content protection involves an elaborate dance between the competing interests of content owners, consumers, the producers of content delivery systems and platforms, and the owners of the technology devices, Seow explained. In an industry where only 4 in 10 movies make a profit, it is in the interests of content owners like movie studios to stretch the profitability of their products way beyond the theatrical release. Platforms like VHS (Video Home System), DVD, and streaming over the Internet are some of the means content owners can continue having a revenue stream long after theatrical release.
In terms of revenue stream for a film release, the theatrical release only garners 15.7%, whereas the bulk of the revenue comes from home entertainment releases which enjoy a 47.1% share. Other segments include television releases (28%) and pay-to-view television (9.1%). A massive 84% of this revenue stream is home-based. Television releases are normally paid for by corporate sponsors who use terrestrial television broadcasts to advertise. Content protection makes sure that the right content is delivered in the right format, and cannot be easily replicated digitally or otherwise. For example, DVD uses a 40-bit scrambling system and comes with High Bandwidth Digital
Content Protection (HDCP). Other formats such as High Definition DVD (HDDVD) and Blu-ray use conditional access and have redistribution control in the form of a digital watermark that prevents content from being copied. This “watermark” is in the form of the audio soundtrack that accompanies any movie release. The system is smart enough to detect when a copy is being made and can proactively protect the content.
According to Seow, at its heart content protection is about access control. Content owners want consumers to have the correct access to their movies. “When this process is circumvented, revenue generation is compromised and this can significantly cut revenue,” he commented.
New Media in Singapore
The role of new media is especially interesting as they can either augment but, sometimes, compete against the interests of content owners. As newer platforms and formats emerge, consumers will have an even greater choice as to what platform to invest in and which formats to stick to.
In the Singapore context, the intelligent Nation 2015 (iN2015) 10-year master plan to help the country realize the potential of infocomm over the next decade, is of major relevance. This inter-agency initiative aims at “being number one in the world in harnessing infocomm to add value to the economy and society; to realize a 2-fold increase in the value-add of the infocomm industry to S$26 billion; to realize a 3-fold increase in infocomm export revenue to S$60 billion; to create 80,000 additional jobs; to achieve 90% home broadband usage and to achieve 100% computer ownership in homes with school-going children.” Two factors stand out: 90% home broadband usage and 100% computer ownership in homes with school-age children.
The implications for the domestic market are huge in terms of IP television (television signals transmitted over the Internet) as well as the availability of technology for young people to immerse themselves in. There will also be a move toward High Definition Television, or HDTV, to release the broadcast spectrum for other uses and increase the national broadcast spectrum. Countries need to choose broadcast standards and formats and sometimes this isn’t easy to coordinate. Work is being done on a broadcast standard for ASEAN where content can be made available across the region at lower costs to consumers, Seow explained. In the end, however, “different regions of the world can and will select different solutions to meet their needs,” he said.