Regional Blackouts: Protection of Broadcast Content on 3G Networks

One of the driving forces behind the development of 3G systems is the potential to deliver complex content to consumers. This is evident from the growing collaboration between broadcast and mobile network operators, and the expectation that future broadcast receivers will be able to forward content to mobile devices. One challenge in providing such a service is the requirement for content protection. An aspect of this that is particularly relevant to mobile systems is the ability to control where content is viewed. Although 3G networks can provide location of a user’s receiver, this device may be in a different location from the device that renders the content. Thus the provider cannot be certain where the content will be viewed. This paper proposes two protocols that will provide the location of the end device in a secure manner that can be trusted by the content provider.