What is forensic watermarking?
Forensic watermarking is the embedding of unique and traceable information (similar to a product serial number) into video streams, so that the STB playing or forwarding the stream can be identified. How has forensic watermarking been used? Watermarking was first applied in professional applications, such as in film postproduction to protect works in progress. Watermarking was also used with great effectiveness to protect pre-release and awards screeners. A number of individuals pirating those screeners were prosecuted based on evidence gathered from forensic watermarks. More recently, watermarks have been made part of the Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI) specification and are deployed with each digital cinema installation. In addition, the Blu-ray Disc specification includes forensic watermarking by way of BD+. Why is it needed? Content owners are beginning to make content available to system operators in earlier windows than ever before. The threat of piracy puts downstream revenues a
