Mediaguard

Mediaguard is a conditional access system for digital television developed by SECA (Société Européenne de Contrôle d'Accès), company renamed to Canal+ Technologies SA (CEO François CARAYOL), a subsidiary of Canal+ Group, sold to Thomson (CEO Thierry Breton). Then Canal+ Technologies SA was broken in two pieces by Thomson in 2003, the Mediaguard sold to Nagra France and the MediaHighway to NDS France.

Mediaguard has been on the European market since 1996. It is also used in Middle-East and Asia. Mediaguard is notably used by Canal+.

Manufacturers which incorporate Mediaguard into their equipment are notably Hitachi, Ltd., Humax, JVC, Kenwood Electronics, Nokia, Pace Micro Technology, Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Sagem, Samsung Electronics, Sony Corporation, Strong, Thomson, and Toshiba

The original Mediaguard system has been broken by the end of the 1990s, allegedly by rival NDS Group, which resulted in new cards being distributed to customers in 2002.

External links

• The Guardian, March 13th, 2002: How codebreakers cracked the secrets of the smart card
• Murdoch firm ordered to hand over documents in TV piracy row
• NDS faces probe over TV hacking allegations
• NDS said to have paid cash to piracy site - Email 'evidence' links News Corp. to ITV pirates
• Details of Canal Plus lawsuit
• All Canal+ Lawsuit documents
• CANAL+ GROUP FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST NDS TO RECOVER FOR ACTS OF UNFAIR COMPETITION
• Canal+ Technologies Press releases
• Newspapers - The Guardian / Le Figaro / Les Echos / Le Monde
• Murdoch security chief linked to TV piracy site
• Murdoch Security Chief Linked to Anti-Competitive Actions
• Messier mire for Murdochs
• Australian Financial Review article on Canal Plus lawsuit and history of NDS