Hong Kong, August 31, 2005 — The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) today announced a new initiative to encourage practical, high-end solutions to the challenges of the new digital environment for the Asia Pacific pay-TV industry. As the pay-TV and media industries move towards digitisation it is critical for content to be protected from illegitimate copying.
This consensus initiative, which encompasses support by the CASBAA Technical Committee for a series of technical solutions to digital copyright controls – especially digital outputs C follows a six-month consultation process involving the entire CASBAA membership, including pay-TV channels, platform operators and hardware suppliers.
“Although CASBAA is not a standards-setting organisation, the objective is to provide guidance for the likes of the chipset and set-top box manufacturers, as well as the consumer electronics industry within Asia,” said Marcel Fenez, the chairman of CASBAA.
Mr Fenez emphasised that the technical specifications referred to in the documentation are voluntary. “”This is an open-ended process which we hope will encourage further input from our members and the rest of the industry. The strength of CASBAA is its wide and diverse membership.”
Karl Rossiter, the chairman of the CASBAA Technical Committee, said: “The CASBAA technical recommendations cover localized interconnection of consumer devices and secure digital home networking. We also advocate the use of open and proven international standards and will take into account copy protection technologies that are yet to emerge within Asia.”
According to CASBAA, digital transmission of content is becoming the norm in the pay-TV industry in the Asia-Pacific region and will soon become the dominant means of handling TV signals in the home. Manufacturers of set-top boxes and the chipsets that fill them need guidance now as to the technological measures for content protection that platform operators and program suppliers wish to see incorporated in the next generation of digital equipment.
“This is an issue that unites the industry. Content providers, programme distributors and cable, satellite and broadband platform operators all need to protect their revenue streams from erosion due to widespread unauthorized distribution on the Internet and elsewhere,” said Marcel Fenez.
For details of the recommendations please visit www.casbaa.com
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ABOUT CASBAA – www.casbaa.com
The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia is an industry-based advocacy group dedicated to the promotion of multi-channel television via cable, satellite, broadband and wireless video networks across the Asia-Pacific. CASBAA represents some 120 Asia-based corporations, which in turn serve more than 3 billion people.
Members include ABN AMRO, AETN, AsiaSat, ASTRO, Bloomberg Television, CSG Systems, Discovery Networks Asia, EMC (Taiwan), Galaxy, HBO Asia, IBM, MTV Networks Asia Pacific, Nokia, now Broadband (PCCW), PricewaterhouseCoopers, Sony Pictures Television International, STAR Group, Sun Microsystems, Turner International Asia Pacific, UBC (Thailand), Walt Disney Television International, Zone Vision, Ascent, CNBC Asia, BBC Prime, ESPN STAR Sports, Harmonic, Irdeto Access, Juniper Networks, National Geographic, NDS, Mediacorp News, Nagravision, Open TV, PanAmSat, Sky News Australia, Starhub, Boeing Aerospace, Worldsat and Zieland Productions.
CONTACT:
Rebecca Kennedy or Katie Wong
Communications, CASBAA
802 Wilson House, 19-27 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong
Tel: 852-2854 9913 Email : pr@casbaa.com