NAGRA and Eluvio Deliver Industry-First Decentralized, Secure, and Just-in-Time Solution for Premium Video Distribution with Forensic Watermarking

NAGRA NexGuard Streaming session-based watermarking is applied in the Eluvio Blockchain Content Fabric as part of an end-to-end trustless content security model for streaming at scale

Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Switzerland, and Berkeley (CA), USA – September 6, 2023 – NAGRA, a Kudelski Group (SIX:KUD.S) company and the world's leading independent provider of content protection and media and entertainment solutions, and Blockchain Content Fabric pioneer, Eluvio, today announced the integration of NAGRA NexGuard forensic watermarking to secure playback of TV, films, and other premium video via the Eluvio Content Fabric and complementary Eluvio Media Wallet. This milestone is the industry’s first integration of forensic watermarking into Eluvio’s global blockchain Fabric for premium content distribution.

The Eluvio Content Fabric is an open and decentralized, streaming, content distribution, and storage network built for the third generation Internet. Companies, artists and brands whose premium content distribution initiatives have been powered by Eluvio include FOX Entertainment, Globo, MGM Studios, Microsoft, SONY Pictures, Telstra, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, WWE, Dolly Parton, and many others. This new forensic watermarking capability completes the Content Fabric’s blockchain-controlled trustless, verifiable, and tamper proof content security capabilities that prove, protect, and secure content distribution from its source to audiences. NAGRA NexGuard Streaming OTT watermarking is applied in the Eluvio Content Fabric as part of an end-to-end trustless content security model and exploits the Fabric’s native, hyper efficient and low latency global streaming pipeline.

“Eluvio is at the vanguard of decentralized, high performance, and secure content delivery for many of the most well-known creators of premium video, and we’re very proud to mark this milestone with them as the first forensic watermarking solution to be integrated into the Eluvio Content Fabric to deliver the critically important element of traceability of content leaks,” said Ken Gerstein, VP Sales, NAGRA Anti-Piracy & NexGuard. “NAGRA is committed to ensuring that our portfolio of security solutions and services can be integrated and brought forward as more media companies start evolving to Web3 and blockchain for premium content distribution.”

“The combination of NAGRA’s forensic watermarking and Eluvio’s Content Fabric sets a new bar for end-to-end content protection for direct video distribution, from publisher to consumer, at scale,” said Michelle Munson, co-founder and CEO of Eluvio. “Already, the Content Fabric protocol ensures on-demand and live video assets are encrypted with traditional and new trustless cryptography for content owners and backed by built-in blockchain contracts and on chain policy that manage and enforce authorization of content playout. Now, thanks to our integration with NAGRA, NexGuard Streaming OTT forensic watermarking can also be applied automatically and dynamically to each output stream and tied to the individual recipient. Indeed, all authorizations and accounting of a content's life cycle—from audience reporting to rights management to version history—are realizable directly in the Eluvio Content Fabric, recorded in its ledger, provable, and tamper free. We look forward to bringing this joint integration with NAGRA to our customers across the media and entertainment industry.”

NAGRA and Eluvio at IBC 2023

NAGRA NexGuard Forensic Watermarking is part of a comprehensive line-up of solutions to help those involved in the production and distribution of valuable video content guard against service and content piracy.

For more information about NAGRA’s forensic watermarking services, click HERE. To schedule a meeting to learn more about NAGRA at IBC 2023 (Stand 1.C81), please click HERE.

To schedule a meeting or to learn about Eluvio’s show programming at IBC 2023 (Eluvio stand Hall 8.MS5), please click HERE.

About NAGRA

NAGRA, the digital TV division of the Kudelski Group (SIX:KUD.S), provides security and multiscreen user experience solutions for the monetization of digital media. The company provides content providers and DTV operators worldwide with secure, open and integrated platforms and applications over broadcast, broadband and mobile platforms, enabling compelling and personalized viewing experiences. Please visit dtv.nagra.com for more information. Follow us on X (Twitter) and LinkedIn.

About Eluvio

Eluvio (https://eluv.io) is the creator of the Content Fabric Protocol, a decentralized (blockchain-controlled) open content distribution and storage protocol transforming the economics and delivery of premium video and digital media. The Content Fabric is a global network of nodes running the Content Fabric Protocol, providing a complete media delivery pipeline replacing legacy media clouds and CDNs. Features include live and file-based video and content publishing, transcoding, packaging, sequencing, streaming, on chain authorization of content, and minting of tokens and other on-chain proof of ownership for all ranges of content experiences. Examples of companies and creators whose content distribution have been powered by Eluvio include FOX Entertainment, Globo, MGM Studios, Microsoft, SONY Pictures, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, WWE, The Masked Singer, Dolly Parton, Black Eyed Peas, Rita Ora, independent filmmakers, and many others. Eluvio is led by Emmy Award-winning technologists, Michelle Munson and Serban Simu, founders and inventors of Aspera and a core team of innovators. Based in Berkeley, California, Eluvio has received numerous industry awards including the prestigious Engineering Excellence Award by the Hollywood Professional Association, National Broadcasters Association (NAB) Product of the Year and is recognized with 11 US patents.

Media contacts

NAGRA
Christina Anderson
Senior Director - Communications
christina.anderson@nagra.com
+41 79 232 29 64
+41 21 732 06 26

Eluvio

+1-865-896-9786

PR@Eluv.io

Technical Details

The Eluvio Content Fabric is a decentralized and open architecture content streaming, distribution, and blockchain security protocol implemented in a global network of nodes. All output, including HLS and DASH streaming to end user clients, is generated just-in-time from base content objects. Content object parts are encrypted with both AES and a second layer of encryption (a proxy re-encryption, using elliptic curve crypto) for trustless storage throughout the Fabric nodes. When a playable Fabric URL is requested by a client, the Fabric node serving the request generates streaming manifests and output segments built from the parts 'just-in-time'. This process re-encrypts the output for the recipient using the trustless re-encryption and strong DRM. All of this is controlled via authorization against blockchain contracts that back each content object and store its current version hashes and on chain policy governing encryption. Integrating NAGRA watermarking allows the Content Fabric also to individually watermark each output stream dynamically for its recipient. Specifically, Eluvio generates A/B versions of the base content object parts upon publishing. For streaming output, the just-in-time transcoding pipeline integrates NAGRA’s watermarking. This process is tamper-proof given that the authorization of the client is already based on the client's blockchain identity and secured by its signature and tied to self-verifying content details from the Content Fabric's on-chain versioning of the served content.

The Eluvio Content Fabric enables simplified, hyper-efficient, and just-in-time video distribution from the source (stream or file), without making file copies – and without the use of costly third-party cloud storage, transcoding, OVP, or CDN providers. The hyper-efficiency of the platform can cut end-to-end costs by up to 80%, as compared to the cost of conventional cloud and CDN solutions. Its built-in delivery capability enables ultra-low latency, high-quality 4K video streaming for content creators and owners to support new entertainment experiences. It creates new monetization opportunities for video archives; AVOD, SVOD, FAST, direct-to-consumer (D2C) OTT channels; live streamed events; Web3 digital collectables and interactive multimedia/video NFTs; XR experiences; and loyalty and fan engagement programs with integrated ticketing, tokens, and payments. Eluvio also offers three "Powered by Eluvio" service levels with Web3-native turnkey and brandable websites, storefronts, and video marketplaces.

The Eluvio Media Wallet is a consumer application that acts as a digital vault and enables consumers to stream and purchase content via credit cards or crypto wallets. Through open APIs, the Media Wallet can be embedded into any media storefront or experience. The Eluvio Media Wallet is available on browsers and across major Connected TV platforms (including Apple TV, Android TV, and Fire TV) with more than1600 device platforms and growing—expanding the reach of the Eluvio Content Fabric to mainstream consumers at scale.