Tech, Hollywood Heavyweights Create Content Coalition

I am thoroughly confused now with all these content delivery and protection coalitions being formed left, right and center. Anyway, several high-profile technology companies and movie studios are expected to announce Wednesday that they have formed a coalition to ensure that high-definition video and other content cannot be pirated in home networks.

The initial members include IBM, Intel, Sony, Microsoft, Warner Bros., Disney and Panasonic.
Update: Well, it is called “Advanced Access Content System License Administrator” (AACS LA)…a mouthful. “The aim of the group is to make the system as a generally available, licensable specification later this year. AACS LA’s focus is market enablement. As a part of this effort, the group is seeking to engage in industry review and collaboration on the specification prior to completion.”

The alliance marks the culmination of years of tentative and often suspicious contact between the high-tech industry and Hollywood, the story says. I doubt it

WSJ (sub. req.): The group also includes Time Warner and Toshiba. Under the new system, a consumer buying a DVD would be able to show it on several machines, such as a home computer, a home-entertainment system and a portable movie player. Copies of the content could be made, but the technology would set limits on its usage. The copy protection on the system would work much like a credit-card transaction, with the ownership of the DVD checked each time a consumer makes a new copy of the movie.

Individual studios would be able to specify limits based on time — that a movie might expire after say, 90 days — or on the number of viewings, say, 20. Those limits are being worked out by the studios.

News.com II: Members of the group said the new technology would be complementary to other digital rights management and content protection systems, such as Microsoft’s Windows Media.

So now that we’re done with the news, some fun. Quiz: how many such networking alliances do you think exist within the digital media industry? About 12-13 at last count…and this is not including the traditional online publishing alliances like the OPA, and the mobile content alliances. These are the ones I found going through my archives and other sources: (do you know any other? Let me know)

Digital Living Network Alliance

Broadband Content Delivery Forum

Personal Technology Freedom Coalition

Open Contents Platform Association

Multimedia Over Coax Alliance

Content Management License Administrator (More details here)

Internet Home Alliance

Internet Streaming Media Alliance

HomePlug Powerline Alliance

Ubiquitous Open Platform Forum

Digital Media Project

Distributed Computing Industry Association

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