SDMI Update: Statement From the Executive Director and Portable Device Working Group Chair
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 25, 1999--
Leonardo Chiariglione, Executive Director, SDMI
Jack Lacy, Chairman, Portable Device Working Group
There appears to be a great deal of misinformation with regard to the consensus arrived at by SDMI and its Portable Device Working Group at the London meeting May 3-5. For that reason, we have decided to issue this statement and the attached explanation of the transition approach on which consensus was achieved.
In particular, we want to make clear that reports that SDMI compliant devices will reject MP3 and other open formats are completely false. In fact, as the attached explanation makes clear, the devices we anticipate being on the market in time for this year?s holiday season will accept any content in any format the manufacturer allows. New and upgraded devices (during Phase 2 as described in the attachment) will also continue to accept open formats. These new devices will only reject pirated copies of new content, that is, pirated copies of music that is released after Phase 2 technology becomes available sometime in the future. Thus, anyone who chooses to continue using MP3 to release music can continue to do so, and consumers who wish to continue enjoying MP3 music collections will be able to do so as well. Manufacturers will not have to choose between developing an SDMI compliant device versus developing a device that allows for the use of MP3.
The participants in SDMI are committed to achieving our goal of a June 30 specification for portable devices and we fully expect that we will do so. Summary of Transition Consensus
The music and technology industries have come together to support a transition to secure digital music delivery, with the common goal of producing a good consumer experience. This approach launches a new generation of SDMI devices that will protect creative content.
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.
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. The trigger mechanism will not automatically upgrade the computer application; the individual user will have to choose to upgrade. We believe, however, that virtually all consumers will want to experience new music and new methods of music distribution, and will therefore choose to upgrade to the Phase 2 application.
The Phase 2 computer application supporting portable devices will enable consumers to "rip" CDs, as they do now, but only for personal use on their own computers or portable devices. That application will not allow the user to make those copies available on pirate sites on the Internet. Moreover, the Phase 2 application will be able to recognize pirated music - i.e., music that had not been authorized to be distributed in insecure, compressed form - and it will refuse to accept a download of that pirated music from the Internet. The application will not reject authorized distributions, such as where an artist or record company chooses to make music available on the Internet for free distribution.
Finally, computer and consumer electronic devices will be able to accommodate both SDMI-compliant and non-SDMI-compliant formats (e.g., MP3) in the same application. The only music files that will be rejected in Phase 2 applications are those that are identified as "pirated."
CONTACT:
The Weber Group
Laureen McGowan, 617/520-7087
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