Five Giants in Technology Unite to Deter File Sharing

A global consortium of technology companies is laying the groundwork for a campaign to convince Hollywood and the recording industry that it has finally found an acceptable way not just to limit the copying of music CD’s and movie DVD’s, but to protect digital content in the fast-growing market for hand-held devices capable of playing music, video clips and computer games while wirelessly connected to the Internet.

The consortium — known as Project Hudson and made up of Intel, Nokia, Samsung, Toshiba and Matshushita — plans to announce its new approach in early February…Unlike the system used to protect DVD content, an Internet-based wireless protection plan could permit users of hand-held devices to share movie or music files on a limited basis or permit files to be shared for promotional purposes. Users could also hear a song before deciding whether to buy it.
Project Hudson pits the new group against other copy protection systems being advanced by Sony and Royal Philips Electronics, Apple Computer, RealNetworks and others. But the most important target is probably Microsoft.

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