Multimedia content publishers and distributors are expanding their reach beyond traditional outlets to include a broad range of Internet-connected devices, enabling greater consumer access, choice and convenience. Extending subscription and other business models to provide consumer access to media content over the Internet requires new methods of securely authorizing End-users, their devices and client software.

For content owners and distributors, these methods must provide the means to prevent unauthorized access to content while providing a common architecture and template for interoperability, minimizing the operational overhead and cost of implementing divergent protocols.

For the consumer, these methods must provide a simple and consistent experience, avoiding unfamiliar, intrusive or frequent logins, which could discourage usage and broad adoption. They should enable sites and applications to provide customized search results, navigation and personalization while ensuring that the consumer’s identity and privacy are adequately protected.

For technology vendors and 3rd-party Service Providers, these methods must provide interoperability, enabling them to develop value-added services and commercial solutions that can be leveraged across the entire ecosystem.