Irdeto
Encyclopedia
Irdeto B.V. is a global
Global
Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to:-Entertainment:* Global , 2003* Global , 2007* Global , 1989* Global Underground, music label* Bruno J...
software security and media technology
Media technology
Media technology can refer to:article - category*Signal processing - :Category:Signal processing**Data recording - :Category:Recording***Data storage devices - ****Art media technology - :Category:Art media...
company with dual headquarters in Hoofddorp
Hoofddorp
Hoofddorp is the main town of the Haarlemmermeer municipality in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. In 2009, the population was just over 73,000...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. It is a subsidiary of multinational media group Naspers
Naspers
Naspers is a South Africa-based multinational media company with principal operations in electronic media and print media Naspers is a South Africa-based multinational media company with principal operations in electronic media (including pay-television, internet and instant-messaging subscriber...
(JSE: NPN). Irdeto develops software security and media technology which includes: content management
Content management
Content management, or CM, is the set of processes and technologies that support the collection, managing, and publishing of information in any form or medium. In recent times this information is typically referred to as content or, to be precise, digital content...
, middleware
Middleware
Middleware is computer software that connects software components or people and their applications. The software consists of a set of services that allows multiple processes running on one or more machines to interact...
,watermarking, dynamic security, conditional access
Conditional access
Conditional Access is the protection of content by requiring certain criteria to be met before granting access to this content...
and customer care and billing. The company has customers in pay TV
Pay TV
Pay television, premium television, or premium channels refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by both analog and digital cable and satellite, but also increasingly via digital terrestrial and internet television...
, over-the-top (OTT) operators, gaming
Gaming
Gaming is the act of playing a game.Gaming may also refer to:* A synonym for Gambling; playing games of chance for money.* Playing a role-playing game, in which players assume fictional roles....
, and electronic publishing. Irdeto’s customer roster includes Netflix
Netflix
Netflix, Inc., is an American provider of on-demand internet streaming media in the United States, Canada, and Latin America and flat rate DVD-by-mail in the United States. The company was established in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California...
, Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
, Adobe
Adobe
Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material , which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for...
, Skylink
Skylink
- External links :* *...
, Sky Deutschland, MultiChoice
MultiChoice
MultiChoice is a South African company which operates the DStv satellite television service, the main satellite TV service in Sub-Saharan Africa. It was formed out of the subscriber-management branch of the M-Net terrestrial pay TV company, and broadcasts the full range of M-Net channels on the...
Africa and D-Link
D-Link
D-Link Corporation was founded in June 1986 in Taipei as Datex Systems Inc. It began as a network adapter vendor and has gone on to become a designer, developer, and manufacturer of networking solutions for both the consumer and business markets.In 2007, it was the leading networking company in...
History
Irdeto was founded in 1969 by Pieter den Toonder, an engineerEngineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
in television technology. In 1997, MIH Limited, a company that provides entertainment, interactive, and e-Commerce services to consumers via television and Internet, acquired 49 percent of Irdeto, and then proceeded in January 1998 to attain the remaining 51 percent of Irdeto for $11 million in cash. As part of MIH Limited's Mindport division, Irdeto Access provided conditional access
Conditional access
Conditional Access is the protection of content by requiring certain criteria to be met before granting access to this content...
systems for both analog and digital broadcasting platforms. Its products were installed in more than 3.6 million decoders on more than 25 broadcasting
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
platforms. Its clients included, for the most part, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
platform operators, but it was developing applications for data broadcasters and other information providers. A new product, M-Crypt, was launched during fiscal
Fiscal
Fiscal usually refers to government finance. In this context, it may refer to:* Fiscal deficit, the budget deficit of a government* Fiscal policy, use of government expenditure to influence economic development...
1999 (ending March 31) for smaller pay-media operators.
Acquisitions
- March 2005, LockStream Corporation was acquired by Irdeto. LockStream Corporation provides digital rights managementDigital rights managementDigital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
(DRM) software for the secure distribution of media. - February 2006, Irdeto acquires Philips CryptoWorks. Philips CryptoWorks offers smartcard and other content protection systems for cableCableA cable is two or more wires running side by side and bonded, twisted or braided together to form a single assembly. In mechanics cables, otherwise known as wire ropes, are used for lifting, hauling and towing or conveying force through tension. In electrical engineering cables are used to carry...
, satelliteSatelliteIn the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
, terrestrialTerrestrialTerrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth.Terrestrial may also refer to:* Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to in trees etc.** A fishing fly that simulates the...
and IPTVIPTVInternet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...
platforms. This acquisition was made to enhance Irdeto’s line of CA products. - July 2007, Irdeto acquires IDway. IDway a leading software company providing open software solutions for digital TV consumer devices based in Paris, France.
- October 2007, Irdeto acquires IBS Interpret. IBS Interpret is a customer care and billing system that delivers a complete, modular solution for managing all aspects of a pay TVPay TVPay television, premium television, or premium channels refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by both analog and digital cable and satellite, but also increasingly via digital terrestrial and internet television...
operation. - December 2007, Irdeto acquired Cloakware. Cloakware is a software technology company that sells software tools and professional services to content protection vendors with its primary market in North America.
- In 2008, Irdeto acquired Entriq. Entriq is a pay media company founded in 2000 by Irdeto employees to focus on emerging broadbandBroadbandThe term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...
markets. With Entriq’s acquisition of DayPort in 2008 prior to its own acquisition, Irdeto expanded its offerings to include content management and distribution of digital media over the Internet. - July 2011, Irdeto acquired the BD+BD+BD+ is a component of the Blu-ray Disc Digital Rights Management system. It was developed by Cryptography Research Inc. and is based on their Self-Protecting Digital Content concept...
content protection technology for Blu-ray discs from RoviRoviIvor Parry was a Welsh magician. He was a Gold Star Medalist of the Inner Magic Circle, and was called 'a British legend' by Opus Magazine. Parry was born in Caernarfon.-References:...
. BD+ is one of two sets of security technologies used in the Blu-ray disc format. - October 2011, Irdeto acquired BayTSPBayTSPIrdeto Intelligence is a copyright enforcement company based in Los Gatos, California. Irdeto Intelligence was formed by CEO Mark M. Ishikawa and offers defensive services to owners of intellectual property concerned about potential unauthorized distribution through the Internet...
, a company that analyzes the impact of digital media online, providing anti-piracyAnti-piracyAnti-piracy is a term used to describe countermeasures against maritime piracy but moreoften by some to describe the attempt to prevent copyright infringement, counterfeiting, and other violations of intellectual-property rights....
measures business intelligence.
Broadband Content Management
- Irdeto Media Manager: designed to enable operators to ingest content, secure it, apply a pay or ad revenue model to it, and then distribute to multi-screen services over the Internet.
Dynamic Security
- ActiveCloak™ for Media: a security service intended to protect content across multiple connected devices. ActiveCloak enables network operators and service providers to change the content protection software proactively as well as reactively.
- OTT for Content Providers: ActiveCloak for Media portfolio provides protection for media applications or devices used to view content over-the-top or via the home networkHome networkA home network or home area network is a residential local area network . It is used for communication between digital devices typically deployed in the home, usually a small number of personal computers and accessories, such as printers and mobile computing devices...
, giving operators, content owners and CE manufacturer’s flexibility in securing digital content inside and outside the home.
Social TV
- Irdeto TV Services platform: provides operators and content providers with web services that deliver content to a variety of devices. One of these web services supports social media engagement on companion devices through channels such as FacebookFacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
and TwitterTwitterTwitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
, allowing customers to share comments and recommendations.
Conditional Access
- Irdeto CAS: a renewable conditional accessConditional accessConditional Access is the protection of content by requiring certain criteria to be met before granting access to this content...
(CA) system that includes a hardware platform, software technology and cryptographyCryptographyCryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties...
that enables broadcasters to dynamically secure their content.
Content Watermarking
- Irdeto TraceMark™: detect pirated content on peer-to-peerPeer-to-peerPeer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
sharing networks by applying an invisible “watermark” that ties redistributed content back to any set-top boxSet-top boxA set-top box or set-top unit is an information appliance device that generally contains a tuner and connects to a television set and an external source of signal, turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen or other display device.-History:Before the...
from which it originated: from there, content owners can identify and shut down illegalIllegalIllegal, or unlawful, is used to describe something that is prohibited or not authorized by law.Illegal may also refer to:*Illegal , a British film*Illegal , an American film...
distribution networks.
TV Middleware
- Irdeto SmartStart: designed to ease the launch of new digital TV operations by incorporating the Irdeto Digital TV conditional accessConditional accessConditional Access is the protection of content by requiring certain criteria to be met before granting access to this content...
(CA) system with a modular customer care and billing system and STB middleware.
Customer Care & Billing
- Irdeto Customer Care & Billing: integrates billing, customer care and business intelligence.
Dual headquarters
In 2007, the HoofddorpHoofddorp
Hoofddorp is the main town of the Haarlemmermeer municipality in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. In 2009, the population was just over 73,000...
headquarters
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
(HQ) was replaced with a dual-core HQ split between Hoofddorp
Hoofddorp
Hoofddorp is the main town of the Haarlemmermeer municipality in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. In 2009, the population was just over 73,000...
and Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. This allowed for decision-making and traditional headquarter functions to be shared across both locations. With this decision, Irdeto overcame a term coined by CEO Graham Kill called "dominant mothership syndrome", which has a wide-ranging set of symptoms including tightly-controlled central resources, career tracks that favor HQ based staff, and a bias towards investing in new projects that reinforce the HQ power base.
Eco-friendly
Irdeto has adopted energy saving measures in their western headquarters (HoofddorpHoofddorp
Hoofddorp is the main town of the Haarlemmermeer municipality in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. In 2009, the population was just over 73,000...
, The Netherlands) – eco-friendly.
Some of the elements used in the creation of what was dubbed Europe’s largest sustainable business
Sustainable business
Sustainable business, or green business, is enterprise that has no negative impact on the global or local environment, community, society, or economy—a business that strives to meet the triple bottom line. Often, sustainable businesses have progressive environmental and human rights policies...
were :
- Technology that helps keep the energy consumption for heating the building to a minimum
- 100 percent sustainable wood
- Carpet and well decoration made from recycled materials
- Opposite to the railway and plenty of bike racks for access to sustainable travel