Patent ID: 7623662

Claim:
An apparatus for default encryption of audio/video content for distribution, comprising: a conditional access encryption system that uses changing encryption code words as live encryption keys; a conditional access management system that communicates with and manages the conditional access encryption system, wherein the conditional access management system provides the live encryption keys to the conditional access encryption system and periodically changes the live encryption keys; and a non-volatile memory storing fixed default encryption information in a configuration table for use by the conditional access encryption system to encrypt certain categories of audio/video content that are always to be encrypted upon a communication failure between the conditional access encryption system and the conditional access management system in which said communication failure results in an inability for the conditional access management system to provide the live encryption keys to the conditional access encryption system which would otherwise result in the audio/video content being distributed unencrypted; and where the conditional access encryption system utilizes the fixed default encryption information to provide encryption to the certain categories of audio/video content that are always to be encrypted during times when the communication failure prohibits communication of live encryption keys to the conditional access encryption system.