PARENTAL LOCK/CONTROLS

Parental controls are features which may be included in digital television services, computer and
video games, mobile devices andsoftware. Parental controls fall into roughly four
categories: content filters, which limit access to age inappropriate content; usage controls, which
constrain the usage of these devices such as placing time-limits on usage or forbidding certain
types of usage; computer usage management tools, which enforces the use of certain software;
and, monitoring, which can track location and activity when using the devices.[1] Blocking ratings,
such as Parental Advisory, TV-14 and TV-MA for TV, R and NC-17 for MPAA, and M and AO for
ESRB.

Content Filters were the first popular type of parental controls to limit access
to Internet content. television stations also began to introduceV-Chip technology to limit access to
television content. Modern usage controls are able to restrict a range of explicit content such as
explicit songs and movies. They are also able to turn devices off during specific times of the day,
limiting the volume output of devices, and with GPS technology becoming affordable, it is now
possible to easily locate devices such as mobile phones.

OTA
Over-the-air programming (OTA) refers to various methods of distributing new software updates,
configuration settings, and even updating encryption keys to devices likecellphones, set-top
boxes or secure voice communication equipment (encrypted 2-way radios). One important feature
of OTA is that one central location can send an Update to all the Users; who are unable to refuse,
defeat, or alter that Update, and it applies immediately to everyone on the Channel. A User could
"refuse" OTA but the "Channel Manager" could also kick them off the Channel (automatically).

In the context of the mobile content world these include over-the-air service
provisioning (OTASP), over-the-air provisioning (OTAP) or over-the-air parameter
administration(OTAPA), or provisioning handsets with the necessary settings with which to
access services such as WAP or MMS. On modern mobile devices such as smartphones,
an over-the-air update may refer simply to a software update that is distributed over Wi-
Fi or mobile broadband using a function built into the operating system, with the "over-the-air"
aspect referring to its use of wireless internet instead of requiring the user to connect the device to
a computer via USB to perform the update.

As mobile phones accumulate new applications and become more advanced, OTA configuration
has become increasingly important as new updates and services come on stream. OTA
via SMS optimises the configuration data updates in SIM cards and handsets and enables the
distribution of new software updates to mobile phones or provisioning handsets with the necessary
settings with which to access services such as WAP or MMS. OTA messaging provides remote
control of mobile phones for service and subscription activation, personalization and programming
of a new service for mobile operators and telco third parties.[1]

Various standardization bodies were established to help develop, oversee, and manage OTA. One
of them is the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA).

More recently, with the new concepts of Wireless Sensor Networks and the Internet of Things,
where the networks consist of hundreds or thousands of nodes, OTA is taken to a new direction:
for the first time OTA is applied using unlicensed frequency bands (2.4 GHz, 868 MHz, 900 MHz)
and with low consumption and low data rate transmission using protocols such
as 802.15.4 and ZigBee.[2]

Motes are often located in places that are either remote or difficult to access. As an
example, Libelium has implemented a smart and easy-to-use OTA programming system
forZigBee WSN devices. This system enables firmware upgrades without the need of physical
access, saving time and money if the nodes must be re-programmed.

PSI
Program-specific information (PSI) is metadata about a program (channel) and part of
an MPEG transport stream.

The PSI data as defined by ISO/IEC 13818-1 (MPEG-2 Part 1: Systems) includes four tables:
- PAT (program association table)
- CAT (conditional access table)
- PMT (program map table)
- NIT (network information table)

PSI is carried in the form of a table structure. Each table structure is broken into sections and can
span multiple transport stream packets. Adaptation field also occurs in TS packets carrying PSI
data. The PSI data will never be scrambled so that the decoder at the receiving end can easily
identify the properties of the stream.

The sections comprising the PAT and CAT tables are associated with predefined PIDs as
explained in their respective descriptions below. There may be multiple independent PMT sections
in a stream; each section is given a unique user-defined PID and maps a program number to the
metadata describing that program and the streams within it. PMT section PIDs are defined in the
PAT, and are the only PIDs defined there. The streams themselves are contained in PES packets
with user-defined PIDs specified in the PMT.

HIGH-BANDWIDTH DIGITAL CONTENT PROTECTION (HDCP)

High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP), is a form of digital copy
protection developed by Intel Corporation[1] to prevent copying of digital audio and video content
as it travels across connections. Types of connections include DisplayPort (DP), Digital Visual
Interface (DVI), and High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), as well as less popular, or now
defunct, protocols like Gigabit Video Interface (GVIF) and Unified Display Interface (UDI).

The system is meant to stop HDCP-encrypted content from being played on unauthorized
devices or devices which have been modified to copy HDCP content.[2][3] Before sending data, a
transmitting device checks that the receiver is authorized to receive it. If so, the transmitter
encrypts the data to prevent eavesdropping as it flows to the receiver.[4]

In order to make a device that plays material protected by HDCP, the manufacturer must obtain a
license from Intel subsidiary Digital Content Protection LLC, pay an annual fee, and submit to
various conditions.[5][6][7] For example, the device cannot be designed to copy; it must "frustrate
attempts to defeat the content protection requirements";[7] it must not transmit high definition
protected video to non-HDCP receivers; and DVD-Audio material can be played only at CD-audio
quality[7] by non-HDCP digital audio outputs (analog audio outputs have no quality limits).

Cryptanalysis researchers demonstrated flaws in HDCP as early as 2001. In September 2010,

an HDCP master key that allows for the generation of valid device keysrendering the key
revocation feature of HDCP uselesswas released to the public.[8][9] Intel has confirmed that the
crack is real,[10] and believes the master key was reverse engineered rather than leaked.[11] In
practical terms, the impact of the crack has been described as "the digital equivalent of pointing a
video camera at the TV", and of limited importance for copyright infringers because the
encryption of high-definition discs has been attacked directly, without the loss of interactive
features like menus.[12] Intel threatened to sue anyone producing an unlicensed device.[11]