The most significant over-the-top (OTT) players make available for instant streaming, on a variety of connected devices, a vast quantity of video content. One of the factors that contribute to the success of over-the-top (OTT) platforms is the fact that users may access their accounts from different devices using just one login. With the help of these platforms, these devices are able to play many streams at the same time without having to download the target video file in its entirety. This enables multiple users inside a single household or a group of friends to use a single user account in order to enjoy a blockbuster movie on a SmartTV, a television soap opera on an iPad, and play live games on an Xbox at the same time. A single user account enables users to play the same video clip on many devices at the same time, which is arguably the most essential feature.
These are users logged in at the same time. To put it another way, they are the maximum number of users who can access a website or application simultaneously in order to watch the streaming of digital content. According to research conducted in 2015, two-thirds of Netflix subscribers in the United States and the United Kingdom provide their login information and password to other individuals.
Every operator of an OTT service provides a variety of subscription plans, each of which allows for a different number of simultaneous users but otherwise functions identically. The use of subscription plans is a reliable method of monetization for over-the-top (OTT) players since it assures a continual stream of recurring money.
But does this not have a negative impact on the OTT platforms’ ability to generate revenue? How does an over-the-top (OTT) player determine the maximum number of concurrent users that should be permitted on a single account while minimising the risk of content being shared illegally? OTT players rely on a reliable digital rights management (DRM) and video watermarking / forensic-watermarking service in order to obtain answers to these and other questions of a similar nature.
The monetization of premium high-value services is being hindered by credential sharing, which is becoming a major concern for major over-the-top (OTT) players. According to Jill Rosengard Hill, executive president of the media research firm Magid, an estimated 35 percent of millennials in the United States disclose the passwords to their streaming service accounts.
Some of the other over-the-top (OTT) competitors believe that the streaming businesses are missing out on a significant amount of potential revenue as a result of this. Some people think that allowing users to share passwords is a good way to keep customers, because it makes it more difficult for users to cancel their subscriptions once they and their families and friends are all hooked onto the same account. However, other people disagree with this viewpoint.
Whatever the business logic of the OTT player may be, it is imperative that the user authentication process be carried out in a secure manner so that any unauthorised usage can at the very least be monitored and possibly stopped. The OTT platform is dependent on the DRM SaaS in order to accomplish this. The Callback-type technique and the token-type method are the two varieties of user authentication that are supported by the multi-DRM cloud servers. In the first scenario, when the multi-DRM server receives a playback request from a client device, it checks the OTT player’s callback page to determine whether or not the user is a valid subscriber. If the user is not a valid subscriber, the playback request is denied. During this step of the process, the multi-DRM server is informed by the callback page of the OTT player about whether or not the user has unrestricted access to the content and on how many devices. The information that is displayed on the callback page of the OTT player for each individual user will determine the concurrency of the video streams. After the multi-DRM server has determined that the authentication process has been successfully completed to its satisfaction, it will issue the necessary licence to the client device for the video stream that was queried.
On the other hand, the token-type method is an authentication method that creates the user’s subscription information as tokens on the server of the OTT player. These tokens are then sent to the client device where they are used to authenticate the user. This token stores information regarding usage rights, concurrency, and other related topics. When a client makes a playback question, the multi-DRM server verifies the client token and then grants the necessary licence. In this particular scenario, the client makes the playback query.
When multiple clients request the same DRM protected content file on a single user account or when they request multiple video streams on different devices, good multi-DRM solutions solve the problem of multiple authentications. This is true whether the requests come from multiple clients or from a single device.