Big Blue and record giants to test copy-proof digital music distribution
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The age of unauthorized music pirating over the Internet may soon be coming to an end. IBM and five top record companies will hold a press conference Monday to demonstrate a system that will deliver copy-proof music over the Internet.
Record industry executives told the Wall Street Journal IBM's system is very secure and would do much to prevent illegal copying. They have been working with technology firms to develop a piracy prevention system so that record companies can insure a way of being paid each time a song is transmitted over the Internet, the Journal said.
With the IBM (IBM) system, which will be piloted for six months in San Diego in 1,000 homes wired to receive Time Warner's Road Runner high-speed Internet access service, customers who provide credit card information can order an entire album from an online music store and burn their own compact disks, according to the Journal. Prices are said to be comparable to those in record stores and consumers will also have the option to download and print graphics from album covers.
Music for the IBM pilot will be provided by Time Warner's (TWX) Warner Music, Seagram Co.'s (VO) Universal Music, EMI Group (EMI) PLC's EMI Music, Sony Corp.'s (SNE) Sony Music and Bertelsmann AG's (FBTG) BMG Entertainment Group. (Time Warner is the parent company of CNN and CNNfn.)
IBM has invested $20 million to develop the system, those familiar with the situation told the newspaper, and it has been working in competition with companies such as AT&T (T), Liquid Audio and RealNetworks (RNWK).
The company that creates the product most widely adopted by the recording industry stands to profit greatly from the experience. "We are talking about a multibillion (dollar) market sometime within the next five years," AT&T's chief technology officer David Nagel told the Journal.
According to the paper, IBM is expected to name Michael Nash, a Los Angeles-based new media consultant, as executive director of the music project.
|
