Ateme will collaborate with BT to prevent content piracy via satellite

The operator will protect broadcasters around the world using Ateme's sophisticated BISS-CA encryption technology.

BT is intensifying its efforts to combat illegal piracy of high-quality, subscription-based content through a new partnership with Atem. The British operator is using the company's sophisticated encryption techniques to protect content distributed by satellite as securely as possible, and will offer this technology to its media and broadcast clients around the world to help reduce the number of illegal transmissions.

BT is the first in the UK to provide the industry with the Ateme encoder which uses the BISS-CA encryption (Basic Interoperable Scrambling System Conditional Access).

The company first used the Ateme encoder during BT Sport's FA Community Shield broadcast at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 4 August and has continued to be used to protect each of BT Sport's Premier League live broadcasts this season.

Television piracy is an increasingly serious problem and, according to the anti-piracy company GOVERNMENT, last year alone there were almost 190 billion visits to illegal piracy websites. Of this figure, 5.75 billion come from the United Kingdom and 17.4 billion from the United States. Piracy is especially prevalent in the sports industry costing Premier League clubs around £1m in sponsorship money each game, according to a separate MUSO study.

As the quality of sports piracy streams continues to improve and hackers are successful in hiding their identity, it is imperative to find new ways to protect sports content to ensure the integrity of the industry.

By using the Ateme encoder, BT's Media and Broadcast unit will be able to deliver the highest quality video at minimum transmission speeds with minimal latency, while maintaining secure broadcasts.

BISS-CA protocol

The BISS-CA protocol used in the Ateme encoder with its secure encryption allows broadcasters to protect themselves against piracy. It can be used in a variety of systems and software and determines the origin of an illegal stream with watermarked content. Media rights holders can also grant and revoke reception rights in real time, securing broadcasts from source to final destination.

Dominik Wrona, Director of TV Outside Broadcast at BT said: "It is imperative for BT that we protect broadcasters from the threat of illegal piracy and ensure that those who view content legally get the best possible viewing experience, wherever they are in the world. By incorporating the Ateme encoder into our satellite solutions, we can provide customers with the greatest efficiency and security, while maintaining the highest standards of video quality for the content on the satellite. United Kingdom.”

Julien Mandel, director of the Ateme Contribution Segment adds: "As one of the UK's leading sports broadcasters, BT has to protect the content it broadcasts across the country from the threat of piracy. With BISS-CA registration integrated into our solutions and delivered as a simple software update, BT can now be even more confident that the content it is carrying for its global media and broadcast customers is well protected. We are pleased to know that BT is using the most powerful tool to provide its customers with safe delivery.”

BISS-CA encryption is an open, interoperable and secure BISS protocol standard with dynamic rolling key support for encryption intended to help broadcasters in the fight against piracy.