New York, 23 March 2016 – NexGuard, the leading provider of forensic watermarking technology and solutions, today announced that it will demonstrate the power of forensic watermarking in finding the source of illegal redistribution of content and protecting revenues at NAB Show 2016 (booth SU3424).

Unauthorized consumption of content has reached tremendous highs. A report by the European commission found that 68% of Europeans stream content illegally, while the Motion Picture Association of America evaluates the yearly cost of global piracy at $6.1 billion. While these numbers are staggering, pirates are now also benefitting from ubiquitous access to superfast broadband, making the illegal redistribution threat even more tangible.

These considerations are at the core of NexGuard’s forensic watermarking solutions, which enable the content industry to better prevent the illegal redistribution of content on unauthorized sharing websites. At NAB, NexGuard will demonstrate how its product portfolio enables the content industry to secure its most valuable assets, at every step of the content chain:

• E-Screeners: the solution designed for physical discs or electronic screeners ensures that original content is protected in the production and pre-distribution stages. The demonstration will feature an e-Screener solution that streams pre-release content to a mobile device and a laptop.
• PayTV Set-top-Boxes (STBs): already deployed in 20 million devices worldwide, the on-device watermarking solution is compatible with VOD and live services delivered via satellite, cable or IPTV. The demonstration will feature a PayTV Set-Top-Box with NexGuard watermark insertion as well as live watermark detection.
• Pre-release UHD content with High Dynamic Range (HDR): developed for studios looking to offer life-like images to consumers, the solution integrates with all the current standards to ensure that the highest value content can be fully secured. The demonstration will feature a camcording of a watermarked clip on an HDR TV, showing how the watermark can be retrieved to find the source of illegal redistribution, even under a camcorder attack.

Harrie Tholen, Managing Director at NexGuard, explained: “Illegal redistribution is becoming a bigger piracy threat than ever, and without the right tools in place, it can significantly reduce the content industry’s revenues. Our NAB demonstrations will show that integrating forensic watermarking is a very easy step forward for content owners, producers and distributors who want to ensure that their assets are protected even after a legitimate subscriber has accessed a video. Our solutions, which are easy to integrate with existing content workflows, create a single identifier for each piece of content, which can be traced to its source to prevent the unauthorized redistribution of high value media, such as premium sports or movies.”

Used for over 10 years by Hollywood studios to help track pirates, NexGuard forensic watermarking has been recognized by winning a Technology and Engineering Emmy® award at CES 2016, demonstrating the central role played by the solution in the fight against piracy. Following the publication of the recent MovieLabs specifications for enhanced content protection, the studios are also making forensic watermarking a key security requirement for any operator providing early release or UHD/4K content. Conscious of the importance of deterring piracy, AMC Networks and Intertrust have also recently deployed NexGuard forensic watermarking.

NexGuard will also be taking part in the NAB Show Live “Future of Broadcasting” panel on Thursday, April 21^st at 10:30-10:55am.

Note to editors: If you’d like to meet NexGuard at NAB Show 2016 (Las Vegas Convention Centre, 18-21 April 2016) or to find out more about the company’s solutions, please contact Lauren Alboini of Platform PR: lauren@platformpr.com, or +44 207 486 4900.

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About NexGuard

NexGuard (www.nexguard.com), a Civolution company, provides the most widely deployed forensic watermarking solutions in the movie and entertainment industry across the globe. Civolution is the leading provider of technology and solutions to identify, manage and monetize media content. The company offers an extensive portfolio of cutting edge digital watermarking and fingerprinting technologies and applications. Follow us on Twitter: @NexGuard and LinkedIn.

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