The news on December 3rd that Google acquired Widevine has the industry buzzing; in our opinion the entry of Google is good for the industry. We think that it is especially positive for companies like Irdeto which work in the field of asset protection. The received wisdom is that the driver for Google to acquire 40 companies in 2010, including Widevine, is to diversify revenues of which 97 per cent were from search advertising in 2009. Whether the purchase of Widevine DRM enables their broader play with GoogleTV to become an industry challenger to existing broadcasters or not, it sends a clear message that asset protection is the key to revenue growth in the industry. Google, a search company with some 20,000 employees worldwide, was in “acquisition mode” last year buying Widevine as well as other non TV related companies including Picnik, Jambool and Plannr. The terms of the deal for the 11 year old company of some 50 staff in Seattle and Europe, which had raised US$51.8m of venture funds, are unknown. However, according to CEO Brian Baker the sale was a “very successful exit.” Reassuring this may be for the shareholders of Widevine, at Irdeto we have been looking at what this could mean for those of us committed to the broadcast industry in Asia. Looking at the history of Google acquisitions we believe that these are some of the likely scenarios: Scenario: 1. : Widevine is fully integrated, only serves Google, and Studios accept Google TV Scenario: 2. : Widevine is fully integrated, only serves Google, but Studios reject Google TV Scenario: 3. : Widevine is fully integrated, and can also serve non-Google clients Scenario: 4. : Widevine remains standalone (can still sell their products and services externally) Scenario: 5. : Widevine remains standalone, but Google starts subsidizing Widevine sales Scenario: 6. : Google Fails to integrate Widevine In our experience, broadcasters understand that DRM alone isn’t sufficient to protect their significant investments in premium content. They know that security is a multi-faceted cloak that needs to protect the entire value chain. We also believe that security should be platform agnostic, able to work across all the chosen devices and formats that exist within the network. The first two scenarios will not support these conditions. Scenario 3 will require some heavy assurances from Google that Widevine installations will not somehow suffer the same data privacy issues that have surfaced around other Google initiatives. Ultimately, the stated goal of Google to ‘organize everything’ may leave some customers uncomfortable. That Widevine is left to stand alone would call into question the rationale why Google ‘agreed to buy’ the company. It is presumably part of a broader GoogleTV and Android game plan. As Android currently holds some 7 per cent of the U.S marketshare for smart phones, the test will be if an integrated DRM will increase or decrease their appeal. Building an ecosystem for subscribers to bypass existing operators and buy content on GoogleTV using Widevine DRM is one way for Google to diversify from it’s search dependent revenue model. Scenarios 4 and 5 therefore seem less logical. The final scenario is where Widevine continues to sit outside of Google, operating as an independently managed business. This will mean that the industry will carry on as usual. However, the presence of Google in the market via the proxy of Widevine, gives weight to the industry voices calling for the monetization of content on the Internet. At Irdeto, with some 40 years of history in conditional access, this fits with our view of the industry as it moves to Media 3.0. Media 3.0 means providing consumer choice; any content at any time on any device. This requires integrating different parts of the value chain across different platforms. Any vendor which sits across multiple parts of the value chain must be in a position to guarantee best in class security and ensure that other solutions are compatible or they risk disrupting the consumer experience. Therefore Security can no longer be static as digital assets require security management throughout their lifecycle. As they pass across platforms they will need to be protected by real-time updates, which reflect both the different environment and the potential for malware attacks. In the new brave world of connected devices the operator will have to rely on partners to actively manage the security and integrity of its digital assets across platforms and as they are reformatted for different devices. In essence, security will be a ‘service’ rather than a ‘product.’ The cloak of security has to be a veil of security that is drawn across the entire value chain which is used to monetize and distribute any type of digital asset. What will be the decision facing content owners when deciding on the content security solution which is best for them? At Irdeto we think that it will be the proven, independent solution, which enables them to commercialise and protect their content across any distribution network device throughout its lifecycle. For broadcasters facing churn and ‘cutting the cord,’ monetizing and protecting content across multiple platforms will be a priority in 2011, the last thing they will want is the nagging suspicion that one of the vendors they integrate into their network to protect their assets is trying to ‘organize everything.’ Daniel Thurnberg is Vice President – Marketing at Irdeto. He joined Irdeto in 2001 and is currently based in Beijing. Daniel holds a DipM from the Chartered Institute of Marketing and an MA from the University of Amsterdam.