Precise Location Data Enables Studios and Networks to Securely Pre-Release Content Without the Threat of Piracy

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 16, 2017 -- GeoGuard, the geo-location piracy prevention experts and Skyhook, the world's leading behavioral location intelligence company, today announced a collaboration that provides the content industry with the industry's first solution that ensures viewers are verifiably watching films and TV at home. The solution is the first of its kind for the content industry and combines precise location data from Skyhook with today's strongest defences against geo-piracy from GeoGuard.

This collaboration is a continuation of the existing relationship between GeoGuard parent GeoComply and Skyhook, through which the companies provide geo-location services for the gaming industry.

By enabling content distributors to verify that content is being watched at home the solution provides a critical element of security required by movie studios before movies launch simultaneously in theaters and in the home. With new services entering the consumer market - such as the recently launched Screening Room - which aim to offer early release and cinema release films to viewers at home, tools that accurately detect geo-location fraud are set to become increasingly important for the protection of digital content rights. The solution will be demo'd at IBC 2017 in Amsterdam, September 15-19 at GeoGuard's booth #14.M23.

Piracy continues to be a growing problem in the film industry. According to a 2016 Statista survey, 24 percent of U.S. respondents pirate movies while the film is still in the theaters. Another 48 percent pirate movies after the movie has left the theaters, but before it is available to watch at home legally.

"Before UHD movies are made available for early release, studios need to be absolutely certain that the content is safe from piracy," said David Bairstow, VP of product, Skyhook. "To meet the standard set by the studios, a number of security measures must be in place. This new solution with GeoGuard, the first of its kind, ensures that a home cinema viewer is actually at a viewer's home – and not spoofing a location in order to broadcast the movie in a public place or to illegally distribute proprietary content."

The solution works to address historical weaknesses in conventional IP Geolocation systems (such as accuracy and spoofing via VPNs, etc.) via a jointly developed SDK which combines Skyhook's Wi-Fi access points database with GeoGuard's studio-approved and third party tested anti-fraud toolkit.

David Briggs, co-founder and chairman of GeoGuard said, "this announcement is a continuation of the relationship between GeoGuard parent GeoComply and Skyhook, through which we successfully provide geo-location services to the gaming industry. This new solution now provides the content industry with uniquely precise geo-location data combined with today's strongest counter-measures against geo-location piracy. The joint solution is designed to enable studios and network operators to plan the launch of early release UHD home cinema with the comfort of knowing that the early-release content will only be shown in the homes that it is intended for."