how safe is iptv read this IPTV channels are NOT sent over the Web. Instead, they are sent over specially built private IP networks that belong to telecommunications carriers. While streaming video and audio over the Web is done on a best-effort basis (often leading to a degradation of the viewing experience, i.e., macro-blocking, picture freeze, audio interruptions, etc.), dedicated IPTV networks are designed and operated to guarantee a quality-of-service level that allows the optimum enjoyment of the delivered content.
IPTV uses the same basic protocols that the Internet uses. This means that once a TV program has arrived somewhere, it can be stored, replayed, copied and retransmitted, as long as this is permitted by the content owner, using standard Internet techniques. It also means that IPTV-enabled devices can accommodate other services that are also carried via Internet protocol.
IPTV is a new way of implementing television, although it appears to consumers very similar to existing cable and satellite TV. But IPTV can offer some key improvements, such as fast channel changing, a much greater choice of content, and extensive content search functions. It can also facilitate richer interactive content-related services than other pay-TV delivery systems. Interconnecting devices that speak the same “IP” language means that phone calls can emerge from TV speakers, or that the calendar on your PC can interrupt your TV viewing to remind you of an appointment, and that you will be able to surf the Internet via your TV.
IPTV has gone from concept to reality in a very short period of time. Over the last several years, service providers have consolidated disparate voice and data networks into a single, IP-based service delivery network. Delivering a ground breaking service such as IPTV requires a complex and sophisticated ecosystem of technology companies developing entirely new software, chipsets, set-top boxes, encoders, network access hardware and components. As this system of moving parts evolves, integration and coordination occurs at every level, including ongoing product development, lab trials, consumer trials and rigorous testing.
Myth: IPTV is less secure than normal TV because it travels over the Internet.
The reality: IPTV content is actually far harder for hackers to attack than either cable, satellite or terrestrial encrypted pay-TV. The use of Internet Protocol technology and a two-way set-top box means that security messages-including authentication messages, confirmations, and decryption codes-can travel easily in both directions, to and from an IPTV set-top box, to multiple destinations in the operator’s network.
The explanation: Existing security systems that prevent unauthorized viewers from watching pay-TV services are called Conditional Access (CA) systems. Originally these systems simply looked for whether or not a viewer had rights to view a particular piece of content. There are proprietary versions of CA that must be adapted to work with cable, terrestrial and satellite TV networks. But most CA systems, until recently, were based on the specifications from the DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) Project, using its Common Scrambling Algorithm CSA encryption procedures.