Synamedia, the world’s largest independent video software provider, announced it has acquired ContentArmor, a leading privately-held developer of forensic watermarking solutions for the media and entertainment industry.

By adding ContentArmor’s technology, patents and expertise to its broad portfolio of security offerings, including its Synamedia EverGuard anti-piracy services, Synamedia is now uniquely placed to meet video service providers’ edge and 5G security demands. Additionally, it boosts Synamedia’s anti-piracy capabilities for movie studios and sports rightsholders, across both OTT and direct-to-consumer (D2C) services. The acquisition will also extend Synamedia’s reach into new markets including post-production, in-flight entertainment, and enterprise video.

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Edge watermarking is the most effective, secure and scalable approach for detecting and disrupting content leaks, and Synamedia anticipates a substantial market opportunity for it, particularly to stream premium content over 5G. ContentArmor’s innovative edge watermarking technology reduces storage and CDN bandwidth requirements by eliminating the need to duplicate video streams. It improves cache performance and speeds the process of embedding the watermarks, while reducing risk by performing security-critical operations in the network rather than in the client.

ContentArmor’s forensic watermarking complies with the MovieLabs Enhanced Content Protection specification for premium VOD and UHD/4K, and is already in use protecting studios’ movies by identifying the source of any unauthorized content distribution. The company also has strong partnerships with industry heavyweights including Akamai, AWS, and Limelight.

Alain Durand, ContentArmor CEO, will join Synamedia’s senior leadership team to help shape its security roadmap. Durand commented, “While head-end watermarking is now at the heart of any studio or service provider’s security requirements, we are primed for the future with our edge watermarking solution. By combining our high-performance technology with Synamedia’s unparalleled intelligence-led security offerings, service providers can future-proof their revenues from the menace of piracy.”

Paul Segre, Synamedia CEO, said, “ContentArmor’s expertise and investment in R&D has resulted in more than 30% growth year-on-year since its inception, along with an impressive patent portfolio. This acquisition further accelerates our industry-leading security business, with edge watermarking fueling new opportunities in the D2C streaming space and for 5G. In the security domain, our clear objective is to meet the needs of all video service providers that care about anti-piracy. The acquisition of ContentArmor strengthens that proposition.”

The ContentArmor team will continue to be based in Rennes, France, which will form a new R&D hub for Synamedia’s industry leading security and video solutions.

Synamedia’s intelligence-led approach to security protects approximately $70 billion in operator revenues every year. It has over 30 years’ experience in video security and developed the longest unhacked solution on the market, while its operational security team has brought many criminals to the attention of law enforcement officials. Offerings include Streaming Piracy Disruption (SPD), CSFEye Credentials Sharing and Fraud Insight, OTT and broadcast security solutions.

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