The Internet Streaming Media Alliance Inc. (ISMA), of which Apple is a member, is releasing a new content protection specification for peer review. The specification is designed to serve as a foundation for the “secure delivery of streaming and download media content,” according to the ISMA, an alliance of nearly 40 companies.
The ISMA itself promotes specifications for the interoperability of streaming rich media, like video, audio and other data over the Internet. The proposed content protection specification provides a single, end-to-end encryption scheme for streaming media and file downloading that can integrate with different key and rights management solutions and licensed content protection devices. This means it allows media content to stay encrypted throughout video delivery over IP networks and remain encrypted on player devices.
The new spec builds on the ISMA’s earlier 1.0 specification. The previous version defined an end-to-end, implementation agreement for streaming ISO-compliant MPEG-4 video and audio over IP networks. Expect the new and improved content protection spec to be finalized this summer (probably in June).
If you’re a technical member of the security or content protection community and are interested in contributing to the peer review of ISMA’s draft content protection specification, cruise on over to the ISMA Web site.