Preventing playback of streaming video if ads are removed

A digital media processing method comprising:

• receiving, by a digital media player, a manifest file identifying each of a plurality of encrypted segments in a video stream, the manifest file having a digital signature corresponding to a cryptographic key;
• extracting, from the manifest file, metadata representing:
• a manifest signing enforcement policy including at least one of a whitelist of digital media players and a blacklist of digital media players;
• and
• an encryption key identifier associated with the cryptographic key;
• determining whether the digital signature of the manifest file is valid using the cryptographic key and the encryption key identifier;
• and
• playing back the video stream in response to determining that the digital signature is valid, otherwise preventing the video stream from being played back.

A digital media processing system, comprising:

• a storage;
• and
• a processor operatively coupled to the storage and configured to:
• receive a manifest file identifying each of a plurality of encrypted segments in a video stream, the manifest file having a digital signature corresponding to a cryptographic key;
• extract, from the manifest file, metadata representing:
• a manifest signing enforcement policy including at least one of a whitelist of digital media players and a blacklist of digital media players;
• and
• an encryption key identifier associated with the cryptographic key;
• determine whether the digital signature of the manifest file is valid using the cryptographic key and the encryption key identifier;
• and
• play back the video stream in response to determining that the digital signature is valid, otherwise preventing the video stream from being played back.