The video streaming market has been targeted by sophisticated piracy networks all over the world. OTT platforms and major Hollywood studios have made fending off this threat a top priority. Multi-DRM and watermarking are the industry standard for combating pirate networks. Ideally, both are obtained from the same SaaS vendor. This method simultaneously authenticates legitimate users and traces piracy to its source.

However, the highly developed piracy ecosystem, which is full of skilled hackers, cannot be wished away. They’re constantly coming up with new ways to attack OTT platforms, which, as global corporations, are targeted in various markets. Managing anti-piracy measures across data centres at the same time is a time-consuming task. Video watermarking protocols should be followed by OTT platforms, however, in order to combat pirates.

The storage and bandwidth footprint of a content delivery platform should be kept to a minimum in order to provide the best possible service to its customers. Edge servers should be used sparingly, especially for storing metadata that includes information about the video asset, the client device, the session ID, the user ID, and so on. Edge servers are located closer to the end user, making them more accessible. Additionally, they disperse data so that even if one set of data is compromised, others remain secure. As a result, it increases security while reducing server load.

If forensic watermarks are being used for DRM protected content, the delivery network should optimise its cache. Bitstream-based watermarking technology should be used instead of the A/B variants. As a result, there are two copies of the same video asset on the server with the latter. As a result, caching them creates multiple versions, which can put strain on the system.

Incorporating forensic watermarks into video files is a time- and resource-intensive process. However, in the case of sports broadcasts, the OTT streaming business depends on the speed and low latency with which content is delivered. Long buffering times have been found to deter users from sticking around on a platform. Adaptive bitrate technology can be used by delivery networks to deliver their content to users with limited bandwidth. For example, watermark embedding becomes faster in video assets that use less server resources.

For faster watermark insertion and efficient server resource management, content owners can follow these well-established protocols.