New Tools for Secure Live Video Streaming at NAB 2025

The team at EZDRM is preparing for the 2025 NAB event with a variety of new strategies for video streaming security, along with timely updates to existing solutions. A key aspect of our approach involves leveraging media provenance. Come visit us at booth W2466 during the show. In the digital media domain, provenance refers to the history of a piece of digital content and serves as an essential element for authenticating that asset. As a member of the widely supported C2PA (Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity), we enable authors of provenance data to securely attach their provenance assertions to content using their unique credentials whether at the point of original creation or any subsequent stage of processing or editing. 

EZDRM is actively supporting this vital C2PA initiative by providing tools that apply provenance in practical applications of streaming video.

While C2PA offers the foundational framework for streaming video provenance, EZDRM is actively developing new applications of C2PA to meet essential business requirements and support scalable implementations in modern streaming services. EZDRM's initiatives include:

First, in a market where sports-related content is a significant revenue driver for streaming services, EZDRM is showing how C2PA can be applied to live video. The EZDRM approach extends the base standards framework to offer scalable, real-time provenance support that is compatible with current player technologies. In a very real way, EZDRM is offering thought leadership in the application of C2PA to live streaming.

Second, EZDRM is introducing a brand new low-latency Provenance Repository System (PRS), meticulously designed to seamlessly integrate with existing streaming workflows. This solution facilitates comprehensive content traceability and accountability by securely managing C2PA content attribution data for large-scale services. To expedite the utilization of this method, EZDRM simplifies the integration process through user-friendly APIs, while providing a proven and robust infrastructure that adheres to regulatory requirements without compromising user experience or operational efficiency.

Third, we are previewing NorthStar revenue security as EZDRM’s innovative approach of leveraging provenance tracking to detect and address unauthorized streaming of video leeched from the CDN distribution of a video service operator. Taking full advantage of C2PA and CMCD (Common Media Client Data) building blocks, EZDRM has dramatically expanded the use cases to apply directly to content monetization. The NorthStar solution now establishes a verified “breadcrumb trail” for the actual pattern of content distribution inside and outside of a licensed region, so that service operators and content providers can not only identify, but also address rogue CDN leeching attempts in real-time.

At the Microsoft Spots Business Hub, we illustrate another benefit of Northstar to validate ad-tracking. Because advertisers don’t pay for impressions—they pay for impact. And if you can’t prove impact, you can’t monetize it. NorthStar addresses this by use of CMCD (Common Media Client Data) and C2PA (Content Provenance and Authenticity) to track what actually happens at the segment level. Microsoft has been a driving force in the development of C2PA, establishing a standard for verifying and tracking content authenticity. By leveraging these open technologies—alongside Azure Edge Compute’s ultra-low latency capabilities—Northstar delivers real-time, segment-level reporting without relying on intrusive client-side tracking.

Additionally, our recently announced partner-centric initiatives include the Secure CDN Contribution solution. This architecture employs off-the-shelf DASH and HLS packaging, robust DRM security, and standardized CDN distribution to ensure controlled delivery of video contribution feeds to service providers. This innovative solution significantly reduces costs for rights holders, whether it is deployed on-premise or from the cloud, while providing a conveniently formatted, standards-based, high-quality video source for downstream service distribution. A paper on this solution will be presented at the 2025 NAB Broadcast Engineering and IT Conference, in the track "OTT as a Replacement for Satellite Contribution", scheduled for Monday, April 7, 2025, from 9:50 AM to 10:10 AM.

In parallel, EZDRM is expanding our focus on enabling secure low-latency video services to support the transition to an all-streaming live event future. We can now offer full standard DRM protection on Ceeblue’s WebRTS protocol. WebRTS provides sub-500 millisecond latency with less complexity than comparable approaches. Additionally, we will be securing demo streams using Vindral Live - a low-latency streaming technology designed to provide real-time streaming that enhances the viewer experience. WebRTS and Vindral support complement and extend EZDRM involvement with existing ultra-low latency solutions, such as HESP and WebRTC security.

We will be pleased to talk on any or all of these points more fully at booth W2466.