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To: John Curtis who wrote (5386)	6/8/1999 4:53:00 PM
From: chris431	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18366

The MP3 Killer Gathers Steam Posted below OR wired.com Note the "reference architecture" spread throughout the article. Hmmmm.... Chris The music recording industry on Monday moved a significant step closer to its goal of overtaking the popular MP3 digital music format. At a meeting in Tokyo, the Portable Device Working Group of the Secure Digital Music Initiative settled on a new specification for portable digital music players. SDMI is a working group made up of stakeholders from the music, software, and hardware industries. Read Wired News' ongoing MP3 coverage Browse Webmonkey's MP3 Guide The group is developing a secure alternative to digital music distribution and storage formats such as MP3, that the music industry feels is a boon to pirates. The group has devised a reference architecture for the first phase of SDMI-compliant portable digital music players, but it has not released the specifications. A reference architecture is the means by which hardware and software components are organized and work together. The specs will outline for manufacturers how players should read digital music files. In Phase 1 of the plan, SDMI-compliant devices will read all files, including MP3, Liquid Audio, and other digital music formats. When the group releases the Phase 2 player specs, which are expected in March of 2000, the devices will only play music files deemed secure by SDMI. The group faces a 30 June deadline for Phase 1 of its controversial and confounding two-phase plan for manufacturing secure digital music players. "The determination with which the Portable Device Working Group is proceeding is truly impressive," said Leonardo Chiariglione, SDMI's executive director, in a press release. The agreement on a reference architecture lays the groundwork for developing actual devices for digital audio playback, said one SDMI member who asked not to be identified. "The reference architecture is a very important pre-condition to a full-blown technical specification," said the SDMI member. "This means we have a common understanding of how these devices and software applications can be designed to maximize consistency and interoperability." More than 75 technology and record companies met in Tokyo late last week to hash out the reference architecture and to begin laying the groundwork for an SDMI marketing group. Technical specifications for the SDMI-compliant Phase 1 portable devices is due by 30 June. The group has postponed announcing the specifications for a much-anticipated and controversial content-screening component until an undetermined later date. At last week's meeting, 10 companies presented proposals for developing the content screening component, and "a number of the proposed solutions" will be tested, according to the press release. SDMI members have declined to identify the companies whose proposals will be tested. Ultimately though, the announcement "really just means they're staying on track," said Arnold Brown, CEO of Audio Explosion, an SDMI participant. "That's one of the big things people are watching for: whether we stick to our word and keep on the timetable," said Brown. "This announcement is fitting in the timetable established early on about how we'll get to specifications."