UK-based pay-TV group BT Sport has deployed BISS-CA encryption to protect its satellite transmissions from content piracy. Developed by the EBU in collaboration with industry partners Ateme and Nevion, the 'Basic Interoperable Scrambling System Conditional Access Mode' is an open, interoperable and secure standard with dynamic rolling key support. The technology is infrastructure agnostic and allows operators to grant or revoke access rights for individual decoders in real-time.
The BT deployment coincides with deployments by Eurovision Services, with the EBU-owned service provider rolling out support for BISS-CA encryption regionally and aiming to reach global coverage in the second half of 2020.
“The growing adoption of BISS-CA will do much to address live content piracy”, said Adi Kouadio, the EBU’s development leader for BISS-CA. “The intrinsic characteristics of BISS-CA, such as watermarking, rolling keys, and strong encryption, allow for a better protection of content upstream, and I encourage media rights holders to embrace it.”
“This open standard is a clear example that collaboration can help tackle major industry problems”, Kouadio added. Most market-leading technology solutions providers have implemented BISS-CA or are currently in the process of doing so.
Dominik Wrona, Head of TV Outside Broadcast at BT, said: “For BT it’s imperative that we protect broadcasters from the threat of illegal piracy and ensure that those watching the content legally are getting the best viewing experience possible, wherever they are in the world.”