Decentralizing DRM with Blockchain and NFT
Blockchain-based Content Security Solutions for WEB 3.0
Blockchain technology, which appeared with Bitcoin in the early 2000s, has a great impact on various fields, such as financial/economic systems and IT industries worldwide. The media entertainment industry is also attempting to utilize blockchain and its application, NFT (Non-Fungible Token), for online media services and content security.
In this article, we will look at these blockchain-based content security solutions and see if they can replace traditional DRM solutions.
Blockchain Basics
Blockchain technology is a digital ledger system that records transactional information in a transparent and secure way. Each transaction is recorded in block data and linked to previously created blocks to form a block chain. Blockchain is distributed across computer networks, making it ‘decentralized’ and robust against manipulation by hacking.
‘Decentralization’ means that decision-making is decentralized through a network, rather than centralizing governance and authority to a single institution or government. Blockchain ensures reliability and transparency of transactions without the need for intermediaries such as banks or other financial institutions, and reduces the risk of concentration of authority and power in the hands of a few individuals or organizations.
Each block of the blockchain is protected from forgery and tampering attacks through hash algorithm and encryption technology, and through this, the reliability of transaction records stored in the blockchain can be guaranteed.
Applications of Blockchain Technology
Blockchain technology is being applied to the following application cases.
- Crypto Currency: A virtual currency that uses a blockchain to securely record and verify transactions. Unlike traditional currencies, cryptocurrencies operate independently of central banks or governments.
- Smart Contract: A self-executing contract programmed using blockchain technology. This allows parties to agree to terms and conditions to be executed automatically when certain conditions are met.
- Non-Fungible Token (NFT): A unique digital asset that is verified through a blockchain. It is considered rare, unique and highly valuable. NFTs have become popular as a new way to buy and sell cryptocurrencies and to own and trade digital assets.
Conceptual Contradiction of ‘Decentralized DRM’
Content security technologies, including Digital Rights Management (DRM), have traditionally existed for ‘centralized rights control’ for content. Content owners and service providers use the DRM license server and the service backend linked to it as ‘intermediaries’ to centrally control end-user access to and use of content.
On the other hand, the core concept and theoretical goal of blockchain technology and its applications is to create a ‘decentralized’ world without a central authority. Considering the core concepts of these two opposing technologies, it can be seen that a ‘blockchain-based decentralized content security solution’ is conceptually difficult to exist.
Despite this ideological conflict, there are content security solutions based on blockchain and NFTs on the market. Now let’s take a closer look at these solutions.
Cases of Blockchain-based Content Security Solution
THETA Network and THETA DRM
THETA Network is a decentralized video transmission infrastructure that utilizes blockchain technology to provide video content more efficiently and securely. Basically, THETA Network can be said to be a decentralized online video platform (OVP) utilizing blockchain technology.
THETA Network provides NFT-based THETA DRM solutions. Content owners can assign addresses of NFT collections when uploading source videos to the THETA network. This way, only the owner of the NFT in that collection will be able to access the video being output over the THETA Network. To verify NFT ownership, end users will need to connect their cryptocurrency wallet to the THETA video player before playing the content.
THETA DRM solution is actually closer to ‘NFT-based user authentication’ than the traditional DRM concept. Content is protected with simple encryption, and security for encryption keys is handled only at the software level, such as JavaScript obfuscation. This is compared to existing multi-DRM solutions that support security for encryption keys and content playback processes in various ways at the hardware and OS/platform levels.
These ‘NFT-based DRM’ solutions alone cannot satisfy the security requirements for Hollywood studio content, and accordingly, THETA recently (December 2022) added the ‘Studio DRM’ function that supports PlayReady and Widevine to the THETA Network.
Eluvio Content Fabric Technology
Eluvio Content Fabric is a decentralized content management and distribution platform that uses blockchain technology to securely store and distribute digital content. It is developed by the founders who led the development of Aspera’s high-speed file transfer technology.
In the Content Fabric solution, content ‘parts’ that divide source media into small sizes are stored in nodes on a global blockchain network, and each part is encrypted with the artist’s or content owner’s key and protected by a smart contract.
Eluvio Content Fabric’s media pipeline works as follows:
- When the source media and metadata are uploaded to the Content Fabric Ingress node, they are broken into a number of smaller ‘parts’.
- When a content playback request is received from an end user, the media pipeline creates output content in real time using the media parts stored on multiple nodes.
- Output content is delivered to the user device through content fabric egress nodes.
Eluvio Content Fabric has the same authentication mechanism as THETA’s NFT-based DRM. This is an NFT-based user authentication and authorization solution that basically supports only minimal security (simple AES encryption).
Eluvio Content Fabric solution has the following application cases.
- Warner Bros. has released Lord of the Rings expansion content and NFT merchandise using Eluvio Content Fabric.
- MGM used Eluvio Content Fabric for its B2B content platform for premieres and pre-releases.
- Other use cases for TV shows and music concerts can also be found on the ELUV.IO website.
CUSTOS Video Security
CUSTOS is a blockchain-based forensic watermarking and anti-piracy (monitoring and removal of illegal leaks) service provider. CUSTOS’s blockchain-based watermark solution operates in the following process.
- Watermark Embedding
: Content owners upload their videos to CUSTOS platform. CUSTOS applies a unique identifier and cryptocurrency bounty to the video in the form of an invisible watermark. The content owner or content service provider bears such bounty coins. - Bounty Hunting (Watermark Detection)
: CUSTOS searches for watermarked content on the Internet through a network of online bounty hunters. Anyone who first finds an illegally leaked copy and detects the watermark using the watermark detection tool provided by Custos can obtain the cryptocurrency embedded in the content as a bounty. - Report and Takedown
: When an illegal leak is reported by a bounty hunter, CUSTOS uses a blockchain to verify it and report the detected leaker information to the content owner. They also take action (takedown) to remove such illegally leaked content from the Internet.
The solution leverages cryptocurrencies as a reward for bounty hunters who uncover illicit leaks, leading to voluntary and decentralized monitoring and detection. However, since there are limits to this voluntary monitoring and detection alone, CUSTOS also provides illegal leak monitoring by web crawling and their own watermark detection service like other anti-piracy services do.
Conclusion — Can these blockchain-based solutions replace existing content security solutions?
As mentioned above, ‘NFT-based DRM’ solutions can be classified as ‘user authentication and authorization’ solutions rather than DRM. The basic content encryption supported by these solutions alone cannot satisfy the high level of content security required by content owners such as Hollywood studios. THETA Network supports multi-DRM (PlayReady, Widevine) functions in addition to their NFT-based DRM solution to compensate for these limitations.
In terms of user authentication function, NFT-based DRM solutions have the following advantages over existing user authentication solutions.
- Prevent forgery and alteration of user authentication and authorization by utilizing the characteristics of blockchain technology
- Business opportunities through NFT-based content marketing
In addition, THETA and Eluvio solutions also provide distributed media processing and delivery functions that can replace existing online video platforms (OVP). It remains to be seen whether this solution, which replaces transcoders and CDN edges with nodes on a blockchain network, can be competitive with traditional OVPs.
According to an announcement from the Motion Picture Association (MPA), made up of Netflix and Hollywood studios, they are very interested in NFTs, but do not believe the technology will solve the problem of content piracy. Hollywood studios are only interested in expanding their content business opportunities through content marketing and distribution through NFTs.
In conclusion, the existing DRM solution and the NFT-based content security solution show a complementary relationship rather than a substitute relationship. Even if user authentication and content processing/distribution are handled by the blockchain/NFT-based solution introduced in this article, additional content security solutions such as multi-DRM, forensic watermarking, and anti-piracy are required to provide reliable protection and reaction for content piracy.
If you would like to know more about PallyCon’s various content security solutions, please contact us.
