SonySat drawing closer to releasing iks solution.

IKS,a FAR superior solution than cardless files,for countless less downtime hours monthly.Team X,the coding team for SonySat and SpaceStar releases information regarding their iks solution and the security measures they have taken for the end users.here is a copy and paste of the progress and information:

An Introduction to AKS/IKS on the SonySat

STATUS
First off I thought I’d give a status update on AKS/IKS. The client and server software for AKS/IKS has been written, tested, and is ready to go. We are currently busy arranging the deployment of the server software - we expect this to be finished this week.

What is AKS/IKS?
To understand what AKS/IKS is I must first explain a bit about how DVB works. DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) is a international standard used by many sattelite providers world wide. Its a system that uses “Control Words” which change every 15 seconds to decrypt video. Currently most FTA’s use a ‘card emulator’ which is a complicated peice of software that emulates the actual card to produce these code words.

AKS/IKS takes the emulator out of the equation and uses a internet connection to hand off that task to a central server. This server typically uses a combination of software and the actual card to generate the codewords for you and returns the results. Given that a card is involved IKS/AKS systems rarely go down (and almost never have extended downtime).

IKS is a term first coined by nFusion, and stands for Internet Key System. AKS stands for Anonymous Key System - and is a type of IKS developed by the X Team.

Sounds Great - whats the catch?
All IKS systems have the same fundamental flaw - communication between your home and the central server can be logged - this exposes your personal identifying information in the event of legal action. Its sort of like the lawsuits against file sharers you’ve heard so much about.

The solution to this problem is to use a proxy or anonymizing service to protect your identity. AKS is just such a solution. AKS uses the TOR network - a free anonymizing service provided by the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) . Tor was developed to protect the identities of disidents in repressive regimes - and I highly recommend you donate something to their efforts. More information on tor can be found at http://tor.eff.org - they have a paypal link for donations.

How does it work on SonySat and SpaceStar Receivers?
AKS on SonySat and SpaceStar receivers requires a few basic prequisites:

1) You need a X1 Dongle
2) You need a Windows 98 (or higher) PC, with a internet connection, and bluetooth.
3) OPTIONAL: we highly recommend you install the tor client from tor.eff.org.
4) Download and install the soon to be released AKS Client (it will be posted on this site within the next week).

AKS uses the dongle to establish wireless connectivity between your PC and the STB using bluetooth. The AKS client uses that connectivity to call the AKS server to provide you with the code words required for the channel you are viewing. Once setup, your STB will operate just as it does now - but will have the advantage of a more long lasting/stable fix.

Our more technical users will also be pleased to hear the the AKS Client supports using private NewCS 1.50 card servers. This is similiar to using the provided AKS Server (in that it uses a card to generate code words), but has the advantage of fewer users and the added security of a private server.

This is part one of my AKS/IKS primer - as the week progresses I’ll post more information, including install instructions and screenshots.

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