For streaming platforms, the biggest threat isn’t competition—it’s piracy that siphons billions in revenue each year. That’s why a new partnership between DoveRunner, a leader in content and mobile application security, and CDNetworks, an edge-as-a-service provider with over 3,000 global Points of Presence, matters so much right now. Together, they are giving rights holders a way to trace stolen video back to its source and shut it down.
Under the strategic partnership, media and entertainment companies delivering content over CDNetworks can now deploy DoveRunner Forensic Watermarking. This technology invisibly fingerprints every viewer’s stream so that when premium content is captured and redistributed illegally, the leak can be traced back to the exact session it came from. The watermarking is applied server-side, meaning there’s nothing to install on viewers’ devices and no impact on playback quality.
The timing of the announcement is significant. A study released this month by the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA) estimates that 34.4 million people across the EU, UK, and Switzerland accessed illicit IPTV services in 2025, costing legitimate pay-TV providers a potential €5.8 billion in annual revenue. That financial drain is only accelerating as streaming grows in markets where CDNetworks has especially deep coverage: Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and other high-growth regions that many global networks reach only thinly.
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CDNetworks provides cloud security, web and network performance, media delivery, and edge computing across more than 90 countries and regions. Its footprint in fast-growing video markets is a natural fit for DoveRunner’s more than two decades of content security expertise. The partnership lets media companies deliver premium video at global scale and keep it protected in the same motion, without rebuilding their tech stack or slowing down a single stream.
“Our customers count on CDNetworks to deliver content fast and securely in every market they serve, and increasingly they are asking us to help defend that content once it leaves our network,” said Bowie Chen, Head of Sales for North America and EMEA at CDNetworks. “DoveRunner’s Forensic Watermarking slots directly into the delivery and edge security we already provide, so media and entertainment companies can protect their most valuable content wherever their audiences are, without rebuilding their stack or slowing down a single stream.”
The technology itself is designed to be invisible to viewers but unmistakable to pirates. Forensic Watermarking embeds an invisible, session-specific identifier into each viewer’s stream. Content looks and plays exactly as it should, but if it is captured and redistributed, the content owner can extract the identifier from the pirated copy, pinpoint the originating session, and act. For CDNetworks customers, the benefits include no client-side installs, full codec coverage for H.264, H.265, and AV1 across all renditions, and independent certification under Sony’s Golden Eye program after testing by Cartesian against common pirate attacks.
“Every stream a platform delivers is also a stream someone can try to redistribute,” said James Ahn, CEO of DoveRunner. “CDNetworks has built a delivery network with deep reach in the markets where streaming is growing fastest. Pairing that reach with Forensic Watermarking gives their customers a proven way to find the source of a leak and shut it down, without adding friction to the viewing experience.”
Why it matters: Streaming piracy isn’t just a nuisance—it’s a €5.8 billion annual drain on legitimate providers in Europe alone, and the problem is growing in the world’s fastest-expanding video markets. By combining edge delivery with server-side forensic watermarking, this partnership gives rights holders a practical, scalable tool to protect their most valuable content without sacrificing viewer experience or global reach.
About DoveRunner
DoveRunner is an industry-leading security technology company founded in 2000 in Seoul, South Korea, with offices in India, Indonesia, and the United States. Its Content Security suite, including Multi-DRM, License Cipher, Forensic Watermarking, Anti-Piracy, and Piracy Guard, helps streaming platforms, broadcasters, and rights holders protect premium video from encryption through takedown, while its Mobile Application Security suite protects apps against tampering and reverse engineering. DoveRunner is ISO certified to 27001, 27017, and 27018 standards. To learn more, visit doverunner.com.
About CDNetworks
As the APAC-leading network with over 3,000 global Points of Presence and more than 20 years of technology experience, CDNetworks delivers the fastest and most secure digital experiences to end users. Our diverse products and services include web performance, media delivery, cloud security, edge computing, zero trust security, and colocation services. To learn more, visit cdnetworks.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
Seanna Tucker
DoveRunner
+1 408-432-5046
seanna.tucker@doverunner.com
