DHWM: A scheme for managing watermarking keys in the Aquarelle multimedia distributed system

This paper presents secure architecture and protocols for managing Intellectual Property Rights in distributed content databases in a close environment. The implementation of this architecture is currently being realized in the European project AQUARELLE. Registered users will access on the Internet to high value content through secure servers. The main interest of this paper is protocols and architecture developed for using watermarking technologies, with a clever and efficient key management based on the Diffie-Hellman (DH) protocol and Trusted Third Parties (TTP). This paper presents a short survey of watermarking technologies. Next Aquarelle background is specified, along with the chosen watermarking algorithm, which is convenient for the project. Next the DHWM key exchange is presented, based on the simple idea that watermarking and verification can be separated. This scheme uses the Diffie-Hellman key-exchange protocol. Next some hints on the implementation of the scheme and on its correctness are given