Repost from RB on SDMI News:
Posted by davecoffee on RB:
SDMI NEWS OUT ON PHASE 1 !
How should we interpret this where edig is concerned.
News March 16, 11:06 Eastern Time
Verance Announces Licensees Under SDMI Initiative Including All Five Major Worldwide Record Companies
SAN DIEGO, Mar 15, 2000 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Verance Corp., a leader in technological solutions enabling digital rights management, today announced a broad, multi-industry group of companies licensing the Verance audio watermarking system that has been selected as the worldwide industry standard for digital delivery of music under Phase 1 of the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI).
The initial group of Verance SDMI licensees spans a broad spectrum of information technology, consumer electronics, recorded music and Internet-based music delivery companies. These firms will employ the Verance system as a key component in recorded content, recording and playback devices and supporting information platforms as the foundation for the legitimate distribution of SDMI compliant digital music on-line.
All of the five major worldwide record companies -- BMG Entertainment, EMI Recorded Music, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and the Warner Music Group -- as well as Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), have licensed the Verance SDMI Phase 1 watermarking system. Initial Verance licensees from the consumer electronics sector include Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (Panasonic), Sony Corp., TDK Corp. and Toshiba Corp. Other licensees include NTT East, Rioport.com, Silicon Contents, ST Microelectronics Inc. and Telian A/V.
"We are extremely pleased with the growing deployment of our SDMI Phase 1 audio watermarking system by so many industry leaders," said David E. Leibowitz, chairman of Verance Corp. "With the active participation of all five major worldwide record companies and other industry leaders as Verance licensees, consumers can now look forward to greater access to legitimate high quality digital music."
A series of comments from selected Verance SDMI licensees is attached to this press release.
About SDMI
The Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) is a multi-industry forum representing a broad spectrum of information technology, consumer electronic businesses, Internet service providers, security technology companies and members of the worldwide recording industry.
Beginning in 1999, SDMI brought together more than 120 companies and organizations from the worldwide recording industry and technology companies to develop an open, interoperable architecture and specifications for playing, storing, and distributing digital music. The resulting specifications will answer consumer demand for convenient accessibility to quality digital music while enabling copyright protection for artists' work.
Additional information about SDMI can be found at www.sdmi.org.
About the Verance SDMI Phase 1 Watermark System
When digitally delivering music to consumers, the music content can be made secure from unauthorized use by cryptographic techniques such as digital encryption. However, for its ultimate use by the consumer, the music must be decrypted and converted back to analog where digital encryption techniques are ineffective. As a result, an audio watermark that survives both digital and analog transmissions becomes necessary to carry copy protection information forward.
For this purpose, the SDMI has adopted the Verance Phase 1 Watermark System. The Verance system will indicate when the software used by initial, or Phase I, SDMI-compliant portable devices should be upgraded to incorporate Phase II technology. Until that time, all music compatible with a particular device will be playable, whether the music is in a protected or unprotected format. When Phase II technology is ready, detection of the watermark will automatically let consumers know that their software can be upgraded to play new SDMI compliant music releases. If a consumer chooses not to upgrade, the device will not play these new music releases. Upgraded SDMI-compliant portable devices will continue to play existing music, future unprotected music files and new music released with SDMI technology. Verance is working on its SDMI Phase II offering and will present its system to the SDMI Plenary in the coming months.
About Verance Corp.
San Diego based Verance Corp. is a leader in the development and implementation of watermarking technology solutions focusing on the copyright management, royalty distribution, information and product distribution needs emerging from the confluence of the entertainment, media, and wireless telecommunications industries.
Additional information about Verance Corp. can be found at www.verance.com.
SELECTED QUOTES FROM SDMI PHASE 1 LICENSEES
BMG Entertainment
"Our licensing agreement with Verance reinforces BMG's strong commitment to SDMI and to taking the steps necessary to create a significant legitimate market for digitally delivered music," said Kevin Conroy, senior vice president, worldwide marketing and new technology, BMG Entertainment. "Verance's technology is an important element in our overall rights management strategy and an important step toward protecting our artists' music."
EMI Recorded Music
"EMI is excited to participate in moving SDMI to the next level for the introduction of secure music and compliant products," said Jay Samit, senior vice president of global media for EMI Recorded Music. "The use of the Verance Phase One watermark system will afford us a greater level of confidence that our music will be better protected in the world of digital delivery."
Sony Music Entertainment
"As the watermarking system chosen by SDMI, Sony Music strongly supports Verance," said Al Smith, senior vice president, Sony Music Entertainment. "We believe that the adoption of the SDMI standards by the music and technology companies will speed the growth of a viable, vibrant market for digital music which will benefit everyone involved, especially consumers."
Sony Music Entertainment (Japan)
"It has been our great pleasure to see the developments of watermark technologies for transmission of music, which help preventing unauthorized copying of music without losing smooth user experience in enjoying music. We believe further developments of watermark technologies will further benefit both music fans and industry," said Masao Morita, corporate executive, Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc.
Universal Music Group
"Universal is committed to building a robust market for electronically delivered music, and watermarking is key to managing this new marketplace," said Larry Kenswil, president, eLabs, Universal Music Group. "We are committed to SDMI and to instituting safeguards that will allow the music business to grow and thrive in the continually evolving digital environment. Our licensing agreement with Verance represents a significant step forward in achieving these goals."
Warner Music Group
"Warner strongly supports use of the Verance watermark to provide copy protection on future CDs and on the new music format DVD Audio," said Paul Vidich, executive vice president, Warner Music Group.
Distributed via COMTEX.
Copyright (C) 2000 Business Wire. All rights reserved.
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CONTACT: Verance Corp.
Greg Hampton, 858/677-6522 ext. 104
ghampton@verance.com
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA INTERNATIONAL ASIA PACIFIC
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: ENTERTAINMENT
MUSIC
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS
PRODUCT
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Wed Mar 15 11:10:18 EST 2000 - quotes are real-time. |
