Contents distribution system based on MPEG-4 ISMACryp in IP set-top box environments

DRM is a technique for preventing an illegal use of digital contents such as streaming media. ISMA 1.0 is a standard for implementing MPEG-4 streaming media in the Internet, while ISMACryp 1.0 adds cryptographic mechanisms for enabling DRM to the ISMA standard. Since ISMACryp 1.0 satisfies requirements for Internet streaming and copyright protection, it is appropriate for playing DRM-enabled digital contents on the Internet. The digital contents to which ISMACryp 1.0 is applied can be replayed both in the IP set-top box and personal computer. The IP set-top box is a device that is subsidiary to television for various broadcasting services, and is expected as an essential element in a home networking environments. Nowadays, it is a trend to make the IP set-top box as a multi purpose device that is vary similar to personal computer. We could also prospect that the IP set-top box replaces the personal computer as a major client system for streaming services. We design and implement the secure DRM client system for playing ISMACryp-enabled digital contents. Especially, we develop the lightweight SecureDB and SecureDB Daemon for protecting sensitive information such as cryptographic keys. We also apply them to the commercialized embedded Linux IP set-top box for enabling the secure contents distribution system.