Content Delivery & Security Association (CDSA): Understanding Best Practices for Digital Content Distribution and Sharing
The Content Delivery & Security Association (CDSA) is an international nonprofit organization that was founded in 1998 to provide best practices and standards for the secure distribution and sharing of digital media content. The focus of their work is to ensure that copyrighted content is securely delivered to consumers and media manufacturers alike, while preventing unauthorized distribution and piracy.
With the rapid rise of the digital media industry, protecting the integrity of digital media content has been a major challenge for the entertainment industry. To address this issue, the CDSA developed two Content Security Risk Management Programs: Copyright & Licensing Verification (CLV) and Music Recording Studio Security (MRSS). This article explains these two programs, as well as how they work together to provide comprehensive content security.
Copyright & Licensing Verification (CLV)
The Copyright & Licensing Verification (CLV) program is an invaluable tool for content owners and media manufacturers that enables them to standardize and verify processes used to prevent piracy through unauthorized manufacturing and distribution of products. This process provides assurance to content owners and media manufacturers that their content is legally licensed and distributed by authorized channels, thus protecting their intellectual property (IP) as well as their profits. To protect this IP, organizations must institute comprehensive cybersecurity risk management strategies.
The CLV process involves a series of steps that assess the security of the content, identify any illegally distributed content, and take appropriate action to prevent piracy. It begins by confirming the authenticity of the license held by the licensee, as well as identifying the terms and conditions of the license, and confirming that the licensee has complied with the terms and conditions. All of this helps to protect the rights of content owners and media manufacturers by ensuring that the licensee has full legal access to the content and is properly licensing the content.
In addition to protecting the rights of content owners and media manufacturers, CLV has a number of other benefits. It helps to prevent illegal distribution and piracy, protect the licensing rights of content owners, and protect the manufacturers of the media products. Furthermore, it helps to ensure that the license holders are in compliance with the terms and conditions of the license agreement. This helps to ensure that all parties involved have a mutually beneficial agreement that is beneficial for all.
The CLV program is a great tool for content owners and media manufacturers that not only protects their intellectual property, but also ensures that their license holders are in compliance with the terms and conditions of the license agreement. It is a comprehensive system that is designed to protect the rights of all parties involved, as well as helping to prevent illegal distribution and piracy. All in all, CLV is an invaluable resource for content owners and media manufacturers alike.
Music Recording Studio Security (MRSS)
The Music Recording Studio Security (MRSS) program was developed by operational and technical specialists within the recording industry. The MRSS program consists of four primary components.
MRSS Best Practices
The first component is the MRSS Best Practices, which are comprehensive guidelines designed to ensure the security of physical and digital media assets. The MRSS Best Practices outline the necessary steps for protecting the recordings and associated assets from unauthorized access and data theft or sabotage. This includes the implementation of security measures such as access control systems, fire suppression systems, and encryption of data.
Risk Management Process
The second component of the MRSS program is the Risk Management Process, which provides a method for studios and individuals to identify, analyze, and assess the risks associated with recording studio activities. This process helps to ensure that the security measures implemented during the recording sessions are sufficient to protect the digital content and intellectual property of the owners.
Quality Management Process
The third component of the MRSS program is the Quality Management Process. This process helps to ensure that all of the recordings and associated assets are of a high quality and are compliant with industry standards. This includes regular system checks and maintenance, as well as the identification and correction of any discrepancies in the recordings.
Training and Education Component
Finally, the MRSS program also includes a Training and Education component. This component aims to ensure that all personnel involved in the recording process have the necessary knowledge and training to properly secure and protect digital media assets. The Training and Education program includes the development of educational materials, seminars, and workshops designed to help personnel understand the importance of recording studio security and best practices.
Comparison of CLV and MRSS
The Music Recording Studio Security program is an essential tool for studios and individuals involved in the recording process. By providing guidelines, processes, and procedures to ensure that digital content is securely managed and that recording studios are properly safeguarding the assets entrusted to them, the MRSS program helps to protect the digital content and IP of content owners.
The CLV and MRSS programs both serve the purpose of helping to protect the rights of content owners and media manufacturers by preventing unauthorized distribution and piracy of content. Both programs provide standards and processes to ensure that the content is securely delivered and managed.
The main similarity between the two programs is that they both provide assurance that the content owners and media manufacturers have the necessary safeguards in place to protect their intellectual property rights. The main difference between the two programs is that CLV focuses on verifying the authenticity of a license and ensuring that license holders are in compliance with the terms and conditions of the license, while MRSS focuses on the security of physical and digital media assets during the recording process.
The Trusted Partner Network
The Content Delivery & Security Association (CDSA), in collaboration with the Motion Picture Association (MPA), launched the Trusted Partner Network (TPN) in 2018. TPN is a rating system designed to provide security and delivery of digital content through secure and trusted channels. It is an industry-led framework that outlines a comprehensive set of criteria for content security, which are applicable across a wide range of content categories. The organization works to bring together technology companies, media companies, and content creators to ensure the safe, secure, and reliable delivery of digital content. Through TPN, content providers and industry players can review and assess the capabilities of their existing content security infrastructures and identify gaps and opportunities for improvement.
What Are Motion Picture Association (MPA) Content Protection Best Practices?
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is dedicated to the protection of content and has established a set of best practices for content protection. These best practices include the implementation of technical measures to monitor, detect, and prevent unauthorized access to content, as well as operational measures to ensure a secure distribution chain. The MPA also provides education and awareness programs to help partners understand the importance of content protection and ways to improve security. Finally, the MPA supports the development of standards and regulations to enable parties to assess and verify compliance with content protection requirements.
Trusted Partner Network and MPA Content Protection Best Practices
TPN helps the industry improve content security by allowing content owners to evaluate their level of conformance with the MPA content protection best practices. Through the use of TPN’s rating system, content owners can easily assess their risk and compliance posture. The network also simplifies the assessment process by providing a streamlined set of assessment criteria and related guidance from the MPA. This allows content owners to quickly evaluate their content security, identify gaps, and take action to ensure that their content is protected from unauthorized access. Additionally, TPN helps content owners gauge their level of conformance with MPA best practices and provides the information necessary for them to determine if further steps are necessary to protect their content.
Kiteworks Can Help Businesses Get Ready for TPN Assessments
Businesses such as production facilities, visual effects houses, and other service partners are required to conduct an annual TPN assessment to gauge their security preparedness for conformance with the MPA content security best practices. The assessment does not provide a pass or fail grade, certification, or rating. Rather, it helps businesses gauge their preparedness for conformance. You can hire a qualified assessor and then manage your assessment process using the secure online platform. One such platform is Kiteworks.
The Kiteworks Private Content Network includes the ability to share files, send emails, and complete web forms securely through security layering and double encryption. It also enables managed file transfer (MFT) for automated exchange for confidential data. Accordingly, organizations that must comply with CDSA’s compliance TPN requirements can use Kiteworks to send and share private intellectual property content. Kiteworks can help businesses get ready for TPN assessments and ensure that their content is securely delivered according to MPA content protection best practices.
The Kiteworks hardened virtual appliance provides multiple security layers to reduce vulnerability exploit and impact severity. The hardened virtual appliance employs an embedded network firewall and web application firewall (WAF) to continuously monitor and dynamically block malicious connections and web requests. It employs zero-trust least-privilege access, where administrators are restricted to a few privileged user accounts, each with narrowly defined permissions and no OS access. Kiteworks also uses double encryption-based AES-256 and TLS 1.2+ encryption at the file and volume levels.
For more details on the Kiteworks Private Content Network and how organizations can use it for CDSA TPN audits and to demonstrate compliance with MPA content protection, schedule a custom demo today.
