Guest-Tek Interactive Entertainment Ltd. has deployed the Verimatrix Content Authority System (VCAS) to protect first-run movies from Hollywood studios on its new digital Video-on-Demand solution, Fluid.

Based in Calgary, Alberta, Guest-Tek is a world-class provider of broadband technology solutions to the hospitality industry and recently launched Fluid in the United States and International hospitality marketplace. Fluid is a state-of-the-art IP Video-on-Demand (VOD) solution that enables hotels to deliver High-Definition content on demand. Guest-Tek's high-speed Internet access is currently deployed in a hotel base of more than 400,000 rooms.

"The hospitality industry is rapidly moving from an analog to a digital entertainment solution and Verimatrix is a great content security solution that meets and exceeds the strict encryption and digital watermarking requirements of all the top Hollywood studios," said Thomas Pullen, vice president of IP Video-on-Demand, Guest-Tek. "Protecting this premium content is an essential piece of our Fluid IP video solution as Guest-Tek drives to become the global leader in the hotel digital video-on-demand marketplace."

Guest-Tek has deployed Verimatrix's software-based VCAS built on the principles of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and X.509 digital certificates, which can be combined with digital watermarks. Verimatrix has partnered with Amino Communications as the set-top box provider and has integrated the content protection solution to its AmiNET110H set-top box designed specifically for hospitality applications.

"Because of our proven partnership with Verimatrix, we were able to quickly and easily integrate our hospitality set-top box to meet Guest-Tek's aggressive deployment schedule," said Roy Kirsopp, CEO of Amino, U.S. "Together, we are able to provide better comprehensive support for the overall IPTV solution."

"Due to earlier content release windows for hotels, it is more detrimental to studios if the content was leaked or stolen from IP networks. The strength of combining of encryption and digital watermarking is fundamental to passing stringent criteria from Hollywood studios in the hospitality industry," said Tom Munro, CEO of Verimatrix. "This deployment is significant to Verimatrix because it proves VCAS is adaptable to applications beyond telecommunications operators."