A digital content protection scheme using MPEG-21 REL with applications to DVB systems

Abstract

In a digital TV system, the Conditional Access (CA) system is essential to protect programs from unauthorized access. However, the encryption technique alone is not sufficient to protect or control the use of contents after decryption. To provide flexible and complete Digital Rights Management (DRM) protection on the Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) programs, we propose a method that adapts the MPEG-21 REL technology and integrates it into a DVB-T system. By extending the Service Information (SI) section of a DVB stream to include an REL license, the transmitted content can be conveniently consumed and legally protected. Our design is verified by an experimental hardware system. The results show that the proposed method can provide both the conditional access functionality and the usage control of broadcasted contents.