M+E Daily

The Content Delivery & Security Association (CDSA) explored the challenges and opportunities presented by blockchain at the Member Day held during NAB 2024 in Las Vegas, on April 14.

Precisely what CDSA plans around blockchain is “in formation,” Richard Atkinson, CDSA president and chairman emeritus, told attendees.

“Part of this is like what do you want it to be? But we have ideas about it, and we also  have ideas about why we think  it’s time to have  a working group around blockchain,” he said.

Noting that he “spent a lot of time in metadata” at companies including Comcast and Disney, Seth Shapiro, co-chair of the CDSA’s Blockchain Working Group said he has “worked with every studio pretty much at one point or another.”

What was key for blockchain technology was that it “came along as the technology that delivered bitcoin,” Shapiro noted.

Blockchain technology, however, has been “pigeonholed with NFTs” and other related things, Atkinson noted.

The reality is that “any product that offers tremendous upside is going to bring in a bunch of sociopaths and scammers,” Shapiro said. But, he added: “When you look historically at the evolution of industry, it is always obviously new technology that opens up these kind of new doors.”

He and Atkinson agreed that blockchain could be “disruptive.”

But Shapiro said: “In some ways, blockchain is the continuation of trends that started with the cloud. And actually there’s some aspects of streaming as well.”

One day earlier, at the Content Protection Summit (CPS) @ NAB 2024, Atkinson delved into the pivotal role that working groups play in the organization that helps shape the culture and membership of the association.

During the CPS session “The Power of Collaboration: An Update on CDSA’s Working Groups,” he explored how the working groups foster collaboration, innovation and engagement among CDSA members, driving the association’s mission forward.

He also provided attendees with a preview of CDSA’s Member Day as its working groups enhance the value proposition for members, strengthen the association’s sense of community, and drive organizational success.

“I am really proud of the fact that we’ve been continuing to have some really great working groups that are solving a number of pretty big challenges, working on big challenges across the industry,” he told attendees.