Australian telecoms giant Telstra is working with Dalet and Eluvio to broadcast live video content across the web without using web2 content delivery networks (CDN). Fox-backed Eluvio developed its blockchain-powered Content Fabric, a web3 CDN. Warner Bros uses the Eluvio solution for the extended web3 version of the first Lord of the Rings movie.
Eluvio enables producers to distribute content directly to consumers with the option of on-chain payments. The solution is being sold by Telstra and Dalet, which also provide added value services.
One of the challenges today is web broadcasts are expensive. Live streams need cloud storage or content delivery networks which don’t come cheap. Eluvio claims its solution provides cost savings of up to 80% compared to clouds or CDNs. A significant part of Eluvio’s secret sauce is around video encoding and transmission rather than DLT.
However, using blockchain, the ‘video supply chain’ has greater transparency because content delivery is direct. Before launching the solution, the partners ran a proof of concept enabling a live event to be streamed from the Telstra broadcast control room in Australia to the viewers in the U.S. without using video encoders, cloud storage or CDNs.
“This partnership is a game-changer for the media and entertainment industry, empowering our joint customers to manage their content with much greater efficiency and transparency across the entire supply chain,” said Ewan Johnston, Director of Channel and Strategic Alliances at Dalet.
A key aspect of the solution is using blockchain to control rights management. The broadcaster encrypts the video stream with a private key with users decrypting for access with the web3 digital rights management (DRM) system.
The blockchain that underpins Eluvio is an Ethereum compatible sidechain, which uses proof of authority as consensus, making it a permissioned network. Telstra is also one of the node providers helping with block validation. Given that the blockchain is used for rights management, it’s important to have an immutable ledger that is enabled by decentralizing the node operations.
