Full encryption stops Amazon Web video leak

Amazon.com has fixed a glitch in its video streaming service by adopting Adobe Systems Inc’s encryption on all television shows and movies found on its site, software maker Adobe said on Monday.

Last week, Amazon.com said it fixed a temporary problem that allowed people to record and copy from the online retailer’s video streaming service without paying.

At the time, and again on Monday, Amazon would not specify what it did to plug the hole on its “Video On Demand” site to stream catching software like the Replay Media Catcher from Applian Technologies.

Adobe, whose software is used by Amazon.com to distribute movies and TV shows over the Internet, said Amazon decided to encrypt all of its video after streaming both encrypted and unencrypted versions of content to users.

Some industry experts told Reuters last week that Adobe did not take full security measures in designing its software, leaving video content vulnerable to stream catching software. Adobe denies that its software leaves videos vulnerable if it is fully encrypted.

The stream catching software, according to Adobe, exploited video sent using Adobe’s real time messaging protocol (RTMP), which is not encrypted like Adobe’s RTMPE, a new layer of security in the company’s latest flash media server software.

The encrypted video can be seen by about 86 percent of Internet-connect PCs, while nearly all can view the unencrypted version.

“Amazon has subsequently made the decision to move everything to RTMPE,” said Jim Guerard, vice president and general manager for Adobe’s Dynamic Media division.