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Telecommunication (Broadcasting And Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) (Fifth Amendment) Regulations, 2023

Telecommunication (Broadcasting And Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) (Fifth Amendment) Regulations, 2023

Telecommunication (Broadcasting And Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) (Fifth Amendment) Regulations, 2023

 

[14th September 2023]

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 36, read with subclauses (ii), (iii) and (iv) of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 11, of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (24 of 1997), read with notification of the Central Government, in the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (Department of Telecommunications), No. 39, -

(a)      issued, in exercise of the powers conferred upon the Central Government under clause (d) of sub-section (1) of section 11 and proviso to clause (k) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the said Act, and

(b)      published under notification No. S.O.44 (E) and 45 (E) dated the 9th January, 2004 in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3,- the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India hereby makes the following regulations further to amend the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) Regulations, 2017 (1 of 2017), namely:-

Regulation - 1. Short title, extent, and commencement

(1)     These regulations may be called the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) (Fifth Amendment) Regulations, 2023 (4 of 2023).

(2)     These regulations shall apply throughout the territory of India.

(3)     These regulations shall come into force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

Provided that for the existing systems, the provisions of these regulations shall apply after three months from the date of their coming into force.

Regulation - 2.

In regulation 10 of the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) Regulations, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as the "principal regulations"),-

(a)      in sub-regulation (6), after the words "Schedule III", the words "or the Schedule X or both, as the case may be" shall be inserted;

(b)      in sub-regulation (7), for the words "Schedule III", the words "Schedule III or the Schedule X or both, as the case may be" shall be substituted;

(c)      in proviso to sub-regulation (7), after the words "Schedule III", the words "or the Schedule X or both, as the case may be" shall be inserted.

Regulation - 3.

In regulation 15 of the principal regulations,-

(a)      in sub-regulation (2), for the words "Schedule III", the words "Schedule III or the Schedule X or both, as the case may be" shall be substituted;

(b)      in third proviso to sub-regulation (2), after the words "Schedule III", the words "or the Schedule X or both, as the case may be" shall be inserted.

Regulation - 4.

In Schedule II of the principal regulations,-

(a)      in item 17, for the words "Schedule III", the words "Schedule III or the Schedule X or both, as the case may be," shall be substituted;

(b)      in declaration, for the words "Schedule III", the words "Schedule III or the Schedule X or both, as the case may be," shall be substituted.

Regulation - 5.

After Schedule IX to the principal regulations, the following schedule shall be inserted, namely:-

 

"Schedule X

(Refer sub-regulation (6) of the regulation 10, sub-regulation (7) of the regulation 10 and sub-regulation (2) of the regulation 15)

Scope and Scheduling of Audit

(A)     Scope: The annual Audit caused by distributor shall include the Audit to validate compliance with this Schedule and the Subscription Audit, as provided for in these regulations.

(B)     Scheduling: The annual Audit as caused by distributor under regulation 15(1) shall be scheduled in such a manner that there is a gap of at-least six months between the audits of two consecutive calendar years. Further, there should not be a gap of more than 18 months between audits of two consecutive calendar years. Digital Rights Management (DRM) System Requirements The term DRM, herein, refers to the management of the encryption systems for, inter-alia, providing the functionality of CAS for the Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service provider under these regulations.

(C)     DRM Requirements in so far as they relate to subscriber management systems (SMS) for IPTV services:

 

Table 1

 

 

Sl. No.

 

Proposed DRM requirements for SMS




 

1.

 

There shall not be any data mismatch between DRM and SMS. Maximum mismatch based on subscription base may be allowed as mentioned below:

 

(4) Must be less than 0.20% for subscriber base up to 100000 subs (0 to 200 for subscriber base of up to 100000)

 

(5) Must be less than 0.04% for subscriber base up to 1000000 subscribers (0 to 400 for subscriber base of up to 1000000)

 

(6) Must be less than 0.01% for subscriber base above 10000000 subscribers (0 to 1000 for subscriber base of up to 10000000)

 

The data between both the systems shall be reconciled on a monthly basis. The reconciliation report shall be stored along with the system data for a minimum of three (3) years or at least three audit cycles, or as per Schedule III whichever is later.




 

2.

 

Password Policy Creation for Users: SMS shall have a defined password policy, with minimum length criteria and composition (upper and lower-case characters, numeric, alphabets or special characters), forced password changes or any other appropriate mechanisms or combinations thereof or alternatively user account has to be locked/paired to the Mac Id of the set top box (STB) /unique consumer subscription or the customer premises equipment (CPE)/device.




 

3.

 

After-Sales Service Support: The required software and hardware support should be available to the distributor of the television channels‘ installations from the SMS vendor‘s support teams located in India. The support should be such as to ensure the SMS system with 99.99% uptime and availability. The systems should have sufficient provisions for backup systems to ensure quality of service and uptime




 

4.

 

All activation and deactivation of STBs/unique consumer subscription shall be done in such a way that SMS and DRM are always integrated and synchronised on real time basis.




 

5.

 

Necessary and sufficient methods shall be put in place so that each activation and deactivation of STBs/unique consumer subscription is reflected in the reports generated from the SMS integrated with the DRM and vice versa




 

6.

 

DRM and SMS should be able to activate or deactivate services and/or STBs/unique consumer subscription of the subscriber base of the distributor within 24 hours.




 

7.

 

The SMS shall be independently capable of generating, recording, and maintaining logs, for the period of at least immediately preceding three (3) consecutive years, corresponding to each command executed in the SMS including but not limited to activation and deactivation commands.




 

8.

 

The SMS should be computerized and capable of recording all logs including information and data concerning the subscribers such as:

 

(a) Unique customer identification (ID)

 

(b) Subscription contract number

 

(c) Name of the subscriber

 

(d) Billing address

 

(e) Installation address

 

(f) Landline telephone number

 

(g) Mobile telephone number

 

(h) E-mail address

 

(i) Channels, bouquets and services subscribed

 

(j) Unique STB number/unique consumer subscription ID attached to a specific unique MAC ID.

 

(k) Unique VC number or MAC ID.




 

9.

 

The SMS should be capable of:

 

(a) Viewing and printing of historical data in terms of the activations and the deactivations of STBs/unique consumer subscription.

 

(b) Locating each and every STB/unique consumer subscription and VC/MAC ID installed at city and state level.

 

(c) Generating historical data of changes in the subscriptions for each subscriber and the corresponding source of requests made by the subscriber.




 

10.

 

The SMS should be capable of generating reports, at any desired time including about:

 

(a) The total number of registered subscribers.

 

(b) The total number of active subscribers.

 

(c) The total number of temporary suspended subscribers.

 

(d) The total number of deactivated subscribers.

 

(e) List of blacklisted STBs/unique consumer subscription in the system.

 

(f) Channel and bouquet wise monthly subscription report in the prescribed format.

 

(g) The names of the channels forming part of each bouquet.

 

(h) The total number of active subscribers subscribing to a particular channel or bouquet at a given time.

 

(i) The name of a-la carte channel and bouquet subscribed by a subscriber.

 

(j) The ageing report for subscription of a particular channel or bouquet.




 

11.

 

The distributor shall ensure that the SMS vendor has the technical capability in India to maintain the systems on 24×7 basis throughout the year.




 

12.

 

DPO shall declare the details of the DRM and the SMS deployed for distribution of channels. In case of deployment of any additional DRM/SMS, the same shall be notified prior to commissioning of the system, to the broadcasters by the distributor.




 

13.

 

If there is active infrastructure sharing (as and when permitted by MIB) then, DPO shall declare the sharing of the DRM and the SMS deployed for distribution of channels. In case of deployment of any additional DRM/SMS, the same should be notified to the broadcasters by the distributor.




 

14.

 

SMS shall have a provision to generate synchronization report, with date and time, with the minimum fields as listed below:

 

(a) STB/unique consumer subscription Number (or in case of card-less system, chip ID or MAC ID number of the STB)

 

(b) Product Code pertaining to a-la-carte channels and bouquets available on the platform

 

(c) Start Date of entitlement

 

(d) End Date of entitlement

 

(e) Status of STB/unique consumer subscription (active/Inactive)




 

15

 

The file output of DRM shall be processed by SMS system to compare and generate a 100% match or mismatch error report.




 

16.

 

Channel/Bouquet management: SMS shall, in synchronisation with DRM on real time basis, support the following essential requirements:

 

(a) Create and manage relevant product ID for all channels and bouquets along with the relevant details such as name, tariff, broadcaster, or DPO bouquet, etc.

 

(b) Manage changes in the channel/bouquet, as may be required, from time to time.

 

(c) Link the Products IDs for a-la-carte channels and bouquets (Single and Bulk) created in DRM with the product information being managed in SMS, for smooth working of SMS and DRM integration.

 

(d) Management of historical Data of Product name, i.e., Broadcasters (name), maximum retail price (MRP), distributor retail price (DRP).




 

17

 

Network Capacity Fee (NCF) Policy Creation: SMS shall support all NCF related requirements mandated by the applicable tariff order.




 

18.

 

Bill/Invoice Generation: SMS shall be capable of generating proper subscriber bill/invoice with explicit details of NCF charges, pay channels charges (with clear itemized details of à-la-carte channel cost and bouquet costs), rental charges for STB/unique consumer subscription (if any), other applicable charges, including Goods and Services Tax (GST).




 

19.

 

Management of Logs:

 

(a) SMS shall have the facility to provide user detail logs with the ID of users on each login event.

 

(b) SMS shall have the provision of generating the user activity log report to enable tracking users‘ work history. It shall not be allowed to delete the records from the log.

 

(c) All logs shall be stamped with date and time and the system shall not allow altering or modifying any logs.

 

(d) The logs shall be maintained for a period as specified in Schedule III or at least three audit cycles, whichever is later.

 

(e) Channel subscription report: SMS shall be able to provide broadcaster wise total counts of monthly subscribers of channels including both a la carte and bouquet subscriptions as per format that may be prescribed by TRAI.

 

(f) DRM and SMS should be running on separate and independent servers.




 

20.

 

SMS Database and tables:

 

(a) There shall not be any active unique subscriber outside the database tables declared by the Vendor

 

(b) SMS shall not provide an option to split SMS database or for creation of more than one instance.

 

(c) SMS shall have the provision to enable or disable channel (a-la-carte channel or bouquet of channels) selection by subscribers either through website or an application through interface provided by the distributor platform operator.

 

(d) SMS shall be capable of capturing the following information required for audit or otherwise:

 

i. Bouquet a la carte status change history

 

ii. Bouquet composition change history

 

iii. Change in status of connection (primary to secondary and vice versa)




 

21.

 

SMS shall be accessed through a Firewall




 

22.

 

STB/unique consumer subscription and MAC ID shall be paired from the SMS to ensure security of channel (applicable for DRM with pairing facility).




 

23.

 

The SMS shall be capable of individually addressing subscribers, for the purpose of generating the reports, on channel by channel and STB/unique consumer subscription by STB/unique consumer subscription basis.




 

24.

 

SMS should have a facility to carry out monthly reconciliations of channels/a-la-carte and bouquet (with their respective ID created in SMS with DRM) and the variance report should be available from the DRM and SMS logs and made available during audits.




 

25.

 

SMS should have a provision of generating the following reports pertaining to STB/unique consumer subscription/MAC ID.:

 

(a) White list of STB/unique consumer subscription /MAC ID along with active/inactive status

 

(b) Faulty STB/unique consumer subscription/MAC ID – repairable and beyond repairable

 

(c) Warehouse fresh stock

 

(d) In stock at local cable operator (LCO) end

 

(e) Blacklist

 

(f) Deployed with activation status

 

(g) Testing/demonstration STB/unique consumer subscription /MAC ID with location




 

26.

 

Audit-related requirements:

 

SMS should have the capability to capture below-mentioned information that may be required for audit and otherwise:

 

(a) Subscriber related:

 

(i) Subscriber contact details change history

 

(ii) Connection count history

 

(iii) Transition of connection between Disconnected/Active/Temporary Disconnected

 

(iv) Subscription change history

 

(b) Product (Bouquet/a-la-carte channel) related:

 

(i) Broadcaster à-la-carte relation

 

(ii) Bouquet name change history

 

(iii) a la carte name change history

 

(iv) Bouquet/a-la-carte channel rate change history

 

(c) STB/unique consumer subscription related:

 

(i) Change in location history

 

(ii) Change in status (Active/Damaged/Repaired/Replaced)




 

27.

 

User Authentication: SMS should have the capability to authenticate its subscribers through registered mobile number (RMN) through one-time password (OTP) system




 

28.

 

SMS should have the provision to support the following additional requirements:

 

(a) List of à-la-carte channels and bouquets, digital headend (DHE): Provision to support/ SubHeadend-wise list of à-la-carte channels and bouquets, in sync with the list available in DRM.

 

(b) Product (à-la-carte channels and bouquets)-wise Renewal and Reversal setting for the Subscriber Account: Provision to allow renewal of a product to a subscriber after the expiry date of a product, and provision to auto-calculate and refund the amount to a subscriber if he discontinues a product midterm. These requirements may be configurable on selective products, as required by the DPOs as per their business plans.

 

(c) Product (à-la-carte channels and bouquets)-wise Reversal setting for LCO Account:

 

Provision to calculate and refund the amount due to LCO, if he or the subscriber discontinues a product midterm. Product (à-la-carte channels and bouquets) Tenure-wise LCO and Subscriber Discount Scheme/Free Days Scheme: Provision to create Discount Scheme and Free-day scheme for LCO and Subscriber, based on the duration (Tenure) of the product subscription.

 

(d) Calendar/Activity Scheduling: Provision to auto-schedule activities like STB/unique consumer subscription activation/deactivation, à-la-carte channels and bouquets addition/removal, channel/bouquet composition modification, etc.

 

(e) Bulk Channel/Bouquet Management: Provision to perform bulk activity of à-la-carte channels and bouquets addition and removal on all or a designated group of STBs/unique consumer subscription.

 

(f) Token-number-based reports: Provision to download multiple generated reports with the help of token number, such as audit reports with different intervals.

 

(g) Third-Party Integration: Provision to support integration with relevant third-party systems, such as, payment gateway integrations, interactive voice response (IVR) Integrations, SMS Gateway Integrations, etc.

 

(h) Bill payment and reconciliation feature: Provision for bill payment and reconciliation (in case a DPO is running service in post-paid mode).

 

(i) Generation of Reports:

 

Provision to generate the following reports for operational purpose:

 

(i) All, selective and single boxes‘ current status with their first-time activation date.

 

(ii) Total number of à-la-carte channels and bouquets and STB/unique consumer subscription expiring detail till given future date on the dashboard, according to the permission.

 

(iii) Today‘s fresh activation count, de-activation count, re-activation count, à-la-carte channels and bouquets addition/ removal count on dashboard, according to the permission.

 

(iv) Total active and inactive subscriber‘s details with multiple criteria (network-wise, à lacarte channels and bouquets-wise, state-city wise and broadcaster-wise).




 

29.

 

It shall be mandatory for SMS to have backup servers and logs of all activities carried out in main server shall be concurrently copied into the backup servers, in an automated manner without any manual intervention.

 


Provided that a log of all such instances shall be maintained along with date and time stamp, where the backup server has been used as the main server:

 


Provided further that the main and backup server shall always be in sync with regard all data, such as subscription data, STB/unique consumer subscription UA/MAC ID details, entitlement level information, etc.




(D)     DRM Requirements for conditional access by subscribers and encryption for IPTV services

 

Table 2

 

 

Sl. No.

 

Proposed DRM Requirements for conditional access by subscribers and encryption




 

1.

 

DPO shall ensure that the current version of the DRM in use do not have any history of hacking. A written declaration from the DRM vendor shall be required to be furnished on an annual basis as compliance of this requirement.




 

2.

 

DRM shall ensure all logs are un-editable, stamped with date and time of all transactions (all activations, deactivation, channel authorization/assignment and un-authorization / de-assignments and change in MAC ID/STB/unique consumer subscription). The DRM shall not allow altering or modification of any logs. There shall be no facility for the distributor/users to purge logs.




 

3.

 

DRM deployed do not have facility to activate and deactivate a Set Top Box (STB) /unique consumer subscription directly from the Graphical User Interface (GUI) terminal of DRM. All activation and deactivation of STBs/unique consumer subscription shall be done with the commands of the SMS (provided that such feature may be available only for specific testing. The command or access for such feature may be available with the highest system administration password. In all such cases a separate log file of such commands has to be maintained) integrated with DRM. The DRM shall be integrated with the SMS in a manner that ensures security of the channel.




 

4.

 

The SMS and the DRM should be integrated in such manner that activation and deactivation of STB/unique consumer subscription happen simultaneously in both the systems.
Explanation: Necessary and sufficient methods shall be put in place so that each activation and deactivation of STBs/unique consumer subscriptions is reflected in the reports generated from the DRM.




 

5.

 

DRM deployed should be able to support two-way networks only.




 

6.

 

The DRM deployed should be able to support both carded as well as card-less STBs/unique consumer subscription for any provisioning.




 

7.

 

The DRM deployed should be able to generate, record, maintain independent reports and logs for verification purpose during audits corresponding to each command executed in the DRM issued by the SMS integrated with the DRM for last three (3) years minimum. The reports must have date and time stamp. Proposed reports should include:

 

(a) Unique active STB/unique consumer subscription count as well as MAC ID wise on any desirable date

 

(b) Unique bouquet/channel active for a specific STB/unique consumer subscription on any desirable date

 

(c) MAC ID/User ID wise activation-deactivation report for service requests

 

(d) Any alteration in bouquet and/or channels configured in DRM

 

(e) Blacklist STB/unique consumer subscription report (desirable not mandatory feature)

 

(f) Product code pertaining to channels/ bouquets available on the platform

 

(g) Channel/bouquet authorization/assignment to STB/unique consumer subscription along with start date and end date of entitlement

 

(h) STB/unique consumer subscription -VC pairing / de-pairing or User id- Mac-id Pairing / depairing (if applicable) in SMS/DRM

 

(i) STB/unique consumer subscription activation / de-activation

 

(j) Channels assignment to STB/unique consumer subscription

 

(k) Report of the activations or the deactivations of a particular channel for a given period

 

(l) The total number of registered subscribers

 

(m) The total number of active subscribers

 

(n) The total number of temporary suspended subscribers

 

(o) The total number of deactivated subscribers

 

(p) List of blacklisted STBs/unique consumer subscription in the DRM (desirable not mandatory feature)

 

(q) Channel and bouquet wise monthly subscription report in the prescribed format.

 

(r) The names of the channels forming part of each bouquet

 

(s) The total number of active subscribers subscribing to a particular channel or bouquet at a given time

 

(t) The name of a-la carte channel and bouquet subscribed by a subscriber

 

(u) The ageing report for subscription of a particular channel or bouquet




 

8.

 

DRM deployed should be able to tag and blacklist the STB/unique consumer subscription in case of any piracy.




 

9.

 

DRM deployed should have the technical capability in India to maintain the systems on 24x7 basis throughout the year.




 

10.

 

The DRM and SMS should be integrated in such manner that upon deactivation of any subscriber from the SMS, all program/services shall be denied to that subscriber.




 

11.

 

The DRM should be capable of generating, recording and preserving unedited data / logs for at least three consecutive years for each command executed through the DRM, including logs of each command of the SMS integrated with the DRM.




 

12.

 

DRM deployed should be capable to support both software base as well as hardware base security.




 

13.

 

DRM shall be capable of adding/modifying channels/bouquets as may be required on real time basis in line with the activity performed in SMS.




 

14.

 

DRM should be so configured for specific type of STB/unique consumer subscription, that are procured and configured by the DPO. The DRM should not enable working/operation of any other type/brand/make of STB/unique consumer subscription, in the network.




 

15.

 

When infrastructure sharing (as and when permitted by MIB) is available, in such cases DRM shall be capable to support multiple DPOs.




 

16.

 

DRM should support content protection.




 

17.

 

DRM should support key rotation, i.e., periodic changing of security keys




 

18.

 

In case DPO has deployed hybrid STBs (hybrid STB for the purpose of this regulation means a STB that uses multiple methods of receiving transmission signals with video and audio content, however in a single instance such STB provides only one type of service), DRM shall ensure that the over-the-top (OTT) App and any browser does not get access to the linear television channels offered by the DPO from its own system, and similarly, DRM for IPTV service should not get access to channels delivered through OTT platform. Provided that, all the mandatory requirements for DRM shall be complied by hybrid STBs.




 

19.

 

There shall not be any active unique subscriber outside the database tables. Further, there shall not be an option to split DRM database for creation of more than one instance by a DPO or a vendor.




 

20.

 

It must support the following options with reference to uploading of unique access (UA)/MAC ID details in DRM database:

 

(a) A secure un-editable file of MAC ID details, as purchased by the distributor, to be uploaded by the DRM vendor on the DRM server directly,

 

(b) If it is uploaded in any other form, UA/MAC ID in DRM database shall be captured in logs,

 

(c) Further, DRM shall support an automated, application programming interface (API)-based mechanism to populate such UA/MAC ID details in the SMS, without any manual intervention.




 

21.

 

It shall be mandatory to have backup servers and logs of all activities carried out in main server shall be concurrently copied into the backup servers:

 


Provided that a log of all such instances shall be maintained along with date and time stamp, where the backup server has been used as the main server:

 

Provided further that the main and backup server shall always be in sync with regard all data, such as subscription data, STB/unique consumer subscription UA/MAC ID details, entitlement level information, etc




 

22.

 

DRM and SMS shall ensure that the access to database is available to authorized users only, and in
"read only" mode only. Further, the database audit trail shall be permanently enabled.

 


Explanation: Database here refers to the database where data and log of all activities related to STB/unique consumer subscription activation, deactivation, subscription data, STB/unique consumer subscription UA/MAC ID details, entitlement level information, etc., is being stored.




 

23.

 

Provision of à-la-carte channels or bouquet:

 

(a) DRM (and SMS) shall be able to handle all the channels, made available on a platform, in à la carte mode.

 

(b) DRM (and SMS) shall have the capability to handle such number of broadcaster/DPO bouquets, as required by the DPO.




 

24.

 

DRM and SMS applications, along with their respective databases, shall be stored in such a way that they can be separately identified.




 

25.

 

DRM shall have a provision to export the database/report for reconciliation with the SMS database. Further, there shall be a provision of reconciliation through secure APIs/secure scripts.




 

26.

 

There shall be unique license key required for viewing, the encryption period for a specific key should be configurable to change at periodic interval in DRM deployed by DPO.




 

27.

 

For every change in channels, fresh license keys should be issued by the DRM. License keys issued by DRM should be secure and encrypted. DRM must ensure that the authorization keys are not received by the STB/unique consumer subscription from any other source other than the one specified by the IPTV system.




 

28.

 

DRM servers should comply with extant Rules and Regulations including relevant clause under extant provisions (if any) relating to data localisation, data security and privacy. It should not be allowed to connect main DRM server to some other location (India or other country) with some proxy or another server to integrate with SMS and DPO system.




 

29.

 

IPTV service delivery may conform to multicast and/or unicast mode. The system configuration should ensure that every television channel is available to every customer on selection to view, irrespective of the mode of delivery or the number of viewers seeking such channel at any point of time. STBs/unique consumer subscription with facilities for recording programs shall have a copy protection system (i.e., a feature which prevents reproduction of content and/or unauthorized copying and distribution of content) and such recorded content should not be transferrable to any other device or delivered to any other network in any manner whatsoever.




 

30.

 

IPTV system should not be allowed to deliver linear content to any other device except STB/unique consumer subscription which has been transparentlisted in DRM.




 

31.

 

The DRM should have following features:

 

(a) It should restrict user to editing.

 

(b) It should restrict user from sharing or forwarding or mirroring the content from the STB/unique consumer subscription.

 

(c) It should disallow user to take screen shots or screen grabs or screen-recording, if technically feasible.

 

(d) It should lock access to authorized STBs/unique consumer subscriptions only.

 

(e) It should have Geo blocking feature.

 

(f) It should be able to set expiry date to recorded content at STB/unique consumer subscription end based on various policies.




 

32.

 

The DRM should have the capability of being upgraded over-the-air (OTA) so that the connected STBs/unique consumer subscription always have the most upgraded version of the DRM.




 

33.

 

The DPO shall ensure that the DRM is up to date by installing necessary patches, error corrections, additions, version releases, etc. so as to ensure protection of channels and content at all times




 

34.

 

No such functionality should be added to or removed from the DRM which compromises security of channels. DPO shall be responsible for encryption of channels‘ signals before their delivery through its IPTV platform using DRM hybrid STBs/unique consumer subscription. All costs / expenses (by whatever name called) that are required to be incurred or become payable for such upgradation and for delivery/distribution of multi channel television programmes to subscribers shall be borne solely by such DPO. The DPO shall employ all reasonable security systems and procedures to prevent any loss, theft, piracy, un-authorized use, reception or copying of channels or any part thereof and shall notify broadcasters as soon as practicable after it becomes aware that such an event has occurred




 

35.

 

The DRM should not in any way interfere with / invalidate fingerprinting.




 

36.

 

DPO shall promptly, and at it sole cost and expense, correct any issues with the DRM (such as bugs, defects, omissions or the like) that prevents subscribers from accessing the DRM hybrid STBs/unique consumer subscription or channels through the DRM hybrid STBs/unique consumer subscription.




 

37.

 

DPO shall provide broadcasters with video and audio codecs supported by the DRM hybrid STBs/unique consumer subscription. The DPO shall ensure that no such changes/modifications are made to such codecs parameters that will require broadcasters to incur any expense for delivery of channels / content that are free from viewer discernible problems (including, without limitation, video with no audio, audio with no video or significant signal distortion




 

38.

 

DRM should ensure that the hybrid STBs/unique consumer subscription are verifiably located within India by reference to internet protocol address and service address. DRM must ensure and lock the viewership to single device by single STB/unique consumer subscription or any device by ensuring MAC ID based authentication. The DRM must use industry-standard means (including IP-address look-up technology with screening and blocking of proxies (including anonymizing and spoofed proxies)) to prevent delivery of channels to IP addresses outside of India or to proxies.




 

39.

 

DRM should ensure that television channels are accessible on STBs/unique consumer subscription of only such subscribers who are then-current, valid subscribers of the DPO, and such confirmation must take place prior to the DRM delivering (or authorizing the delivery of) television channel to the STBs/unique consumer subscription of such subscribers.




 

40.

 

Upon deactivation of any subscriber from the SMS, the DRM shall restrict delivery of all programme/services to that subscriber.




 

41.

 

The DRM should not have any feature to insert any content (including advertisement, banner on portion of screen, etc) by itself. However, ticker messages for consumer information as regards their services from DPO shall be permitted.




 

42.

 

The DRM should not mask/remove any copyright, trademark or any other proprietary information on the channels at the time of their delivery.




The service providers shall ensure that they seek provisioning of after sales services and support through a local entity so as to inter-alia provide quick resolution to any technical and piracy related issues, from DRM equipment supplier, while procuring DRM equipment.

(E)     DRM Requirements in so far as they relate to fingerprinting for IPTV services

 

Table 3

 

 

Sl. No

 

Fingerprinting requirements under DRM




 

1.

 

The DPO shall ensure that it has systems, processes and controls in place to run fingerprinting at regular intervals




 

2.

 

The STB/unique consumer subscription should support both visible and covert types of finger printing.




 

3.

 

The fingerprinting should not get invalidated by use of any device or software.




 

4.

 

The fingerprinting should not be removable by pressing any key on the remote of STB/unique consumer subscription.




 

5.

 

The finger printing should be on the topmost layer of the video.




 

6.

 

The finger printing should be such that it can identify the unique STB/unique consumer subscription number or the unique VC number or the MAC ID.




 

7.

 

The finger printing should appear on the screens in all scenarios, such as menu, Electronic Programme Guide (EPG), settings, blank screen, and games etc.




 

8.

 

The location, font color and background color of fingerprint should be changeable from head end and should be random on the viewing device.




 

9.

 

The finger printing should be able to give the numbers of characters as to identify the unique STB/unique consumer subscription and/or the MAC ID.




 

10.

 

The finger printing should be possible on global as well as on the individual STB/unique consumer subscription basis.




 

11.

 

The overt fingerprinting/watermarking should be displayed by the DPO without any alteration with regard to the time, location, duration and frequency.




 

12.

 

The DRM deployed should be able to generate fingerprinting/watermarking both global fingerprinting as well as targeted channel fingerprinting/watermarking.




 

13.

 

The DRM shall support and enable forensic watermarking at STB/unique consumer subscription level.




 

14.

 

The DRM shall have the capability to run fingerprinting with at least one fingerprinting every ten
(10) minutes on a 24x7x365 basis. DRM should have a feature to publish report of fingerprinting schedule for defined interval. The DPO shall make such report available to broadcaster on request.




(F)      DRM Requirements in so far as they relate to STBs/unique consumer subscription

 

Table 4

 

 

Sl. No.

 

STB/unique consumer subscription Requirements for DRM for IPTV services




 

1.

 

All STBs/unique consumer subscription should have a DRM content protection.




 

2.

 

The STB/unique consumer subscription     deployed should be capable to support content decryption, decoding and DRM license evaluation.




 

3.

 

The STB/unique consumer subscription should be capable of displaying fingerprinting inserted from Headend through DRM/SMS. The STB/unique consumer subscription should support both targeted channel fingerprinting as well as all global fingerprinting.




 

4.

 

The STB/unique consumer subscription should be individually addressable from the Head-end.




 

5.

 

The STB/unique consumer subscription should be able to receive messages from the Head-end.




 

6.

 

The messaging character length should be minimal of upto120 characters.




 

7.

 

There should be provision for global messaging, group messaging and the individual STB/unique consumer subscription messaging.




 

8.

 

The STB/unique consumer subscription must be compliant to the applicable Bureau of Indian Standards




 

9.

 

The STBs/unique consumer subscription should be addressable over the air to facilitate OTA software upgrade.




 

10.

 

The STBs/unique consumer subscription      with facilities for recording the programs shall have international standard copy protection system




 

11.

 

The STB/unique consumer subscription should have a provision that fingerprinting is never disabled.




 

12.

 

The watermarking network logo for all pay channels shall be inserted at encoder end only.




 

13.

 

DRM/SMS deployed should be able to send scroll messaging which should be only available in the lower part of the screen.




 

14.

 

DRM deployed should be able to geo tag STB/unique consumer subscription deployed in the network for security.




 

15.

 

STB/unique consumer subscription     should take all commands directly from DRM not from any intermediate servers.




 

16.

 

STB/unique consumer subscription while using IPTV infrastructure should not have feature to download (direct or side download) any 3rd party App/APK and should not have access to any browser.




 

17.

 

STB/unique consumer subscription should not be able to access the authorization keys from any other source except from the IPTV system through the IPTV closed network. DRM must ensure that the authorization keys are not received by the STB/unique consumer subscription from any other source other than the one specified by the IPTV system




 

18.

 

No play store should be accessible for enabling download, etc. when STB/unique consumer subscription, is functioning in the IPTV network.




 

19.

 

STB/unique consumer subscription should have copy protection.




 

20.

 

DPO system should have capability to maintain un-editable logs of all activity and configurations including download or upgrade of IPTV services App (if any) at STB/unique consumer subscription end




 

21.

 

The DRM should not allow delivering linear TV channels on Internet. The delivery of multi channel television programmes should remain in a closed network within the device.




 

22.

 

The STB/unique consumer subscription should have forced messaging capability including forced finger printing display.




 

23

 

The DRM hybrid STBs/unique consumer subscription should be tested for the following prior to their seeding in the subscribers‘ premises:

 

(a) System down testing

 

(b) Error messaging

 

(c) Negative user journey testing

 

(d) Device variance testing

 

(e) Destructive testing

 

(f) Application monitoring testing

 

(g) In-app monitoring testing