Joe, I thought you were a short term investor:
The transition from first- to second-generation portable devices would be handled by having Phase 1 and Phase 2 computer applications supporting the devices.
In Phase 1, portable devices will accept any content, regardless of format, whether secure or insecure, whether legitimate or illegitimate. Consumers would be able to copy, or "rip," a copy of a CD onto a computer or portable device, just as they can today.
Watermarking news is expected soon, but it is really only part of Phase 2.
The computer application supporting the device will include a mechanism, or trigger, to prompt the user to upgrade to Phase 2 technology, once such technology is available, in order to play or copy Phase 2 content. The technology for this trigger is the subject of a Call for Proposals that is pending right now, but generally speaking, the mechanism will be triggered by data incorporated in new, SDMI-compliant music that is released after the Phase 2 technology is available.
The transition mechanism will not cut off any function of the Phase 1
application or portable device. However, consumers who want to be able to play or copy new, SDMI-compliant music through an SDMI-compliant computer application will have to upgrade their application to Phase 2 technology. The owner of a Phase 1 device and supporting application may choose not to do so, but that person will not be able to use it for new, SDMI-compliant music.
But the latest court ruling on Rio stated that Rio (without security)is not illegal. |
