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A method for use in a premises based multimedia communication system having at least one source device that produces multimedia content, at least one rendering device that presents the multimedia content, and at least one premises communication network coupling the source device to the rendering device, the method comprising:

• determining a bit error rate of the at least one premises communication network between the source device and the destination device;
• transferring the multimedia content from the source device to the rendering device via the at least one premises communication network;
• and
• when the bit error rate exceeds a bit error rate threshold, at least partially disabling link layer encryption of video frames of the multimedia content transfer.

A method for use in a premises based multimedia communication system having at least one source device that produces multimedia content, at least one rendering device that presents the multimedia content, and at least one premises communication network coupling the source device to the rendering device, the method comprising:

• initiating transfer of the multimedia content from the source device to the rendering device via the at least one premises communication network;
• transferring independent (I) video frames of the multimedia content from the source device to the rendering device using a first encryption technique;
• and
• transferring predictive (B and/or P) video frames of the multimedia content from the source device to the rendering device using a second encryption technique.