Feature Overview
Ensuring video content security and preventing unauthorized hotlinking, illegal downloading, and distribution is a long-standing challenge for many enterprises. This is especially critical in online copyright video sectors such as e-learning, corporate training, and financial services, where mishandling can lead to significant financial losses or information leakage risks.
POLYV Cloud VOD offers multiple protection mechanisms for video content security, safeguarding your video copyrights from illegal infringement across product features, technical implementation, and platform services. For details, see: POLYV PlaySafe Video Copyright Protection System.
At the technical and product feature level, POLYV provides the following video security protection mechanisms:
| Security Mechanism | Description | Security Level |
|---|---|---|
| Playback Password | Set a password for a video; viewers must enter the correct password to play it. | Low |
| Video Watermark | Embed enterprise-specific watermarks into the video stream, embedding copyright information to protect intellectual property. | Low |
| Playback Domain Whitelist/Blacklist | Configure domain whitelists or blacklists to restrict video playback to specified websites only. | Low |
| Authorized Playback | The player calls the business's authorization verification interface before playback, enabling secondary authentication. | Medium |
| Screen Recording/Stream Capture Detection | The player automatically detects screen recording or stream capture behavior in mainstream browsers or mobile systems, warning or terminating playback. | High |
| Anti-Screen Recording Marquee | Display viewer information on the video with irregular movement, enabling traceability of the recorder and providing a strong deterrent against piracy. | High |
| Video Encryption | Uses proprietary encryption algorithms and secure transmission mechanisms to provide a cloud-integrated video encryption solution. | High |
| Secure Download | On mobile (iOS/Android SDK), encrypted video data is cached locally; the private key is encrypted and stored, and only the POLYV player can decrypt and play it. | High |
Playback Password
The playback password is a simple security mechanism. After setting a password for a video, viewers must enter the correct password to play it.
For usage instructions, refer to: Playback Password.
Video Watermark
A watermark is an image embedded into the video stream during encoding, becoming part of the video. Enterprises can display their exclusive logo or other information as a video watermark to showcase copyright and brand identity.
For usage instructions, refer to: Video Watermark.
Playback Domain Whitelist/Blacklist
Playback domain restriction is a cloud-configured video resource access policy. Based on the domain of the website hosting the video, you can configure a blacklist of domains where playback is denied or a whitelist of domains where playback is allowed, achieving basic protection against malicious hotlinking.
For usage instructions, refer to: Playback Domain Settings.
Authorized Playback and Anti-Screen Recording Marquee
In addition to login verification on your website, you can set an authorization verification interface in the Cloud VOD management console. The player will call this interface to verify whether a viewer has permission to play a specific video, enabling secondary authentication.
Furthermore, this interface can return marquee content and style information. During video playback, viewer information scrolls irregularly on the video, deterring pirates and achieving video copyright protection.
For usage instructions, refer to: Authorized Playback and Marquee.
Screen Recording/Stream Capture Detection
Some browsers (e.g., 360 Browser) and browser plugins have screen recording or video stream capture and download capabilities. The POLYV player actively monitors for screen recording or stream capture behavior. If such behavior is detected, the video automatically stops playing and displays a warning. The POLYV Android/iOS SDK also provides anti-screen recording functionality. When enabled, recorded video appears black on Android systems, while on iOS, playback stops and a warning is shown.
Video Encryption
The above security mechanisms effectively ensure legitimate user access. However, for pay-per-view scenarios, if a pirate obtains the video playback URL after a single payment, downloads the video locally, and redistributes it, the financial loss to the enterprise can be severe. Therefore, multiple security mechanisms must work together to protect video content, with video encryption being the most critical.
POLYV video encryption encrypts the video data itself. Even if the encrypted video is downloaded locally, it cannot be played or redistributed. Video encryption effectively prevents video leakage and hotlinking issues.
For usage instructions, refer to: POLYV Video Encryption.
Secure Download (Offline Playback)
In mobile apps (iOS, Android), there are often scenarios where videos are cached, downloaded locally, and played offline. The secure download feature provided by the POLYV mobile SDK effectively protects locally downloaded video files, preventing malicious playback and distribution after copying. Key advantages include:
- Locally downloaded videos are encrypted and can only be decrypted and played via the POLYV mobile SDK; they cannot be directly played or redistributed after copying.
- Private key files are encrypted and stored, effectively preventing theft.
- Each video file has its own independent private key; even if one is leaked, other videos remain unaffected.
- All download, decryption, and playback logic is implemented within the SDK, requiring no additional handling from users—simple and easy to integrate.
For usage instructions, refer to:
