The guy who was on the end of the red Hotline DRM Breach Team phone at Microsoft has moved on to Adobe. Joe was responsible for Microsoft’s well known breach responses to the Windows Media Rights Manager Platform. You may remember Joe from such great events as the WMRM plug for FairUse4WM DRM stripping tool and other fun stuff over the years. He will be working with Florian Pestoni, another Microsoft Alumn on the Flash Access DRM platform.
It looks like Adobe is gearing up for the widespread market rollout of the Flash Access DRM platform as they make some big strides in deploying Flash Player 10.1 and the coming Flash Player 10.1 Mobile platform. I think that Joe is just the man for the job and I imagine once Adobe spins up to full speed, he’s going to be quite busy but that’s a good thing.
Congrats Joe!
Late last week Discretix put this announcement to the market in advance of, I presume, IBC. We are starting to see real churn in the marketplace for PlayReady support across devices outside the PC/Intel Mac world. With NetFlix using PlayReady on the iPad, and now support for PlayReady in Symbian, Android. MeeGo and others, it’s going to be a brave new world in 2011. Discretix isn’t a DRM provider or OEM. They take DRM technologies and port and harden them to device OS platforms. This type of technology was previously available for Windows Media Rights Manager using products like CloakWare but this is the first embedded security offering for PlayReady to date.
Garrett Glanz, who heads up the PlayReady team at Microsoft had this to say:
“Discretix has extensive experience in implementing DRM on numerous connected devices, and we are pleased they are bringing the benefits of PlayReady support to the Multi-Scheme DRM Client,” said Garrett Glanz, Senior Director, Media Platforms Business for Microsoft Corp. “PlayReady’s support for multiple content types and business models, coupled with experienced partners such as Discretix, opens up new and exciting opportunities for service providers and OEMs alike.”
Back in July the market learned that BBC’s Project Canvas had selected the Marlin DRM technology as their go to market content protection offering. I think that a mid-summer announcement like this combined with Marlin as the chosen DRM schema may be why so many outlets in our space missed this announcement. Stateside we really didn’t get notice that BBC was looking for a new DRM schema and that might also be why Marlin was chosen over PlayReady.
Let’s face it, Marlin is a dead technology here stateside and other than the Sony PlayStation 3 which is a closed platform that 3rd parties cannot distribute content through independently, nobody is using Marlin. Industry pundits put the total number of Marlin enabled STBs and TV’s at a whopping 4 MILLION by 2014. The chances of you encountering a piece of content managed with Marlin DRM are near zero and more than likely won’t change for some time.
You may or may not be aware RealNetworks was trying to keep a product in the market they had released called “RealDVD.” This product let users make permanent copies of DVDs under a couple restrictions that included for example the number of PC’s you could watch the copies on. Real also claimed they used additional proprietary DRM on the copies to prevent further physical copies from being made from the digital stored copy.
Greg Sandoval, a guy whose writing I have come to really like, has a good piece about the entire dustup here at news.com.
The main thrust of the ruling is:
“RealDVD makes a permanent copy of copyrighted DVD content,” Patel wrote in her decision, “and by doing so breaches its (Content Scramble System) License Agreement with the (DVD Copy Control Association, the group that oversees the protection of DVDs for the major Hollywood studios) and circumvents a technological measure that effectively controls access to or copying of the Studios’ copyrighted content on DVDs.”
Furthermore, the bigger prize at stake was Real’s Facet appliance which was basically a big DVD recorder and jukebox in one slick consumer appliance:
As a result of this ruling, both RealDVD, Facet and another 3rd party’s offering, Kaleidescape Systems are now all offline while Real and Kaleidescape appeal this ruling.
Many of you have been asking me in emails lately: “What is the difference between Silverlight DRM and Smoooth DRM?” The answer is quite simple.
Silverlight DRM is a DRM schema based on PlayReady DRM that supports encryption of Windows Media Content for decryption and playback via the Silverlight Player. Content can be delivered from any HTTP or Windows Media Services source. This technology is available today from BuyDRM.
Smooth DRM is a DRM schema based on PlayReady DRM that supports encryption of Smooth Streaming Content for decryption and playback via the Silverlight Player. Content must be delivered using Microsoft’s IIS7 webserver which offers Smooth Streaming support. This technology will be available in the next 30 days from BuyDRM.
UPDATE 07.28.09: Irdeto’s Marketing Communications partner the Race Point Group, has been working to get a call going with myself and Alex Rassey. He is the Head of Group Marketing Worldwide at Irdeto and formerly the VP of Marketing at Entriq. Once we complete this call, I will update this post.
This just in from the folks at Irdeto. Basically confirming what we said before, this cryptic poorly penned note kind of portrays Entriq as a science experiment that ultimately folded for unknown reasons.
Hello
Entriq is pleased to announce that the company has merged with our sister company Irdeto.
Entriq was started by some Irdeto employees back in 2000. For the past 9 years both companies have been growing rapidly in their respective digital media marketplaces. Irdeto was started in 1969 with a focus on Conditional Access Systems for Pay-TV. Entriq started as a pay-media company, and with its acquisition of Dayport last year added content management and distribution to target the packaging and distribution of digital media over the Internet.
As Entriq grew both organically and through acquisition, so did Irdeto. Its portfolio has been significantly enhanced over recent years through the acquisition of IDWay (middleware), and Cloakware allowing it to become a world class provider. With this breadth of capability Irdeto can enable content owners, service providers and device manufacturers to succeed by providing innovative and reliable software technologies that protect and monetize digital assets and maximize return on any content sent over any network, to any device.
As the digital entertainment marketplace continues to evolve, Irdeto has found that providing advanced media solutions over broadband is an increasingly essential capability for its customer base. Given this track record of success, it makes tremendous sense to bring Entriq’s portfolio back into Irdeto.
Entriq is now part of Irdeto under the portfolio capability of “Content Management”.
The Irdeto website has been updated with this new section and the customer support and media control login pages are now available directly via the Irdeto website. The Entriq Management Team remains as part of the Irdeto Management Team and the sales teams have been incorporated into the Irdeto regional teams.
The Entriq brand was decommissioned by the end of May 2009, and the website will be set to automatically refer visitors to www.irdeto.com.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact your sales representative or send an email to marketing@irdeto.com
Best Regards,
The Entriq (now Irdeto) Management Team
Update: 1530CST: The press release link is now live again on the Entriq site as well as the “News” Section. From my sources, it appears there was a small dustup over the release between Widevine and Synchrous, their reseller in Taiwan. I doubt we will ever hear what truly happened here.
Update: 1125CST: I just spoke with a very rude gentleman from ABI Research who told me that my request to speak with Zippy Aima regarding this announcement was denied because ABI “does not make their analysts available to anyone but customers.” Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Calling Widevine now.
Today my inbox was awash with emails from associates and news monitoring sites about Widevine’s announcement that:
“WIDEVINE LICENSES DRM AND ADAPTIVE STREAMING FOR APPLE IPHONE TO SYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATIONS”
along with this link: www.widevine.com/pr/174_sync_iphone.html
Within 20 minutes of this happening, the link went dead and all info about the release has been scrubbed from Widevine’s website. I am going to speculate that Apple’s lawyers came down hard on Widevine for making this announcement. I am not exactly sure why but given it’s abrupt removal from their site, I can only speculate they got a Cease and Desist from Apple’s lawyers or a nasty phone call.
The release is gone and any mention of it is now gone from the News section of the Widevine site as well:
For those of you that missed this “announcement” the full text of the release is here:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WIDEVINE LICENSES DRM AND ADAPTIVE STREAMING FOR APPLE IPHONE TO SYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATIONS
Enables service providers to deliver video entertainment direct to iPhone subscribers
Seattle, WA and Taipei, Taiwan, June 29, 2009 — Widevine® today announced Synchronous Communications Co. has become a licensed reseller of Widevine DRM and Adaptive Streaming for the Apple® (NASDAQ APPL) iPhone. Synchronous Communications is a long standing provider of IPTV DRM technology to Chunghwa Telecom (NYSE: CHT), one of the largest IPTV service operators globally and the exclusive distributor of the iPhone in Taiwan.
“Widevine has solved the iPhone delivery challenge by giving service providers complete control over the consumer experience from delivery to playback,” said Brian Baker, Widevine CEO. “Service providers everywhere can now utilize Widevine to extend mobile services through their own branded video portal.”
The Widevine DRM solution also enables Synchronous Communications to apply a variety of business and usage models to entertainment services targeted for the iPhone. These include: mobile PVR downloads, purchases, rentals, subscription services and offline playback. Widevine’s Adaptive Streaming solution adjusts video quality on the iPhone to available bandwidth, ensuring the best possible video experience at all times.
“Widevine is the enabler we’ve been looking for to extend TV services to mobile entertainment platforms,” said William Liu, General Manager of Synchronous Communications. “Their innovation and leadership continues to help us remain ahead of competition with a solution that would keep Chunghwa Telecom subscribers satisfied in the living room and on the road.”
Synchronous Communications and Widevine jointly supply content protection and network infrastructure solutions that power Chunghwa Telecom’s TV entertainment services. Chunghwa Telecom is the leading TV entertainment and mobile provider in Taiwan.
“The iPhone’s rise to smartphone dominance has transformed the potential for true mobile entertainment,” said Zippy Aima, Sr. Analyst at ABI Research. “Widevine’s support for the iPhone and iPod Touch is a great example of how PayTV and internet video providers can continue to expand high quality entertainment to ultramobile platforms while improving consumer loyalty, regardless of where or when they connect.”
Widevine’s multiplatform DRM and Adaptive Streaming is available for service providers globally. For more information visit: www.widevine.com/iphone.
About Widevine
Widevine provides digital media solutions for the delivery of digital entertainment to any device. Hundreds of service providers use Widevine’s multiplatform, multiformat DRM and video optimization solutions for securing high quality video and audio. Today, millions of consumers enjoy digital entertainment secured and optimized by Widevine on retail consumer electronics devices and legacy STBs from all major consumer brands. With over 55 patents Widevine is an industry leader and innovator of content protection and video optimization technologies.
Widevine is a privately held corporation headquartered in Seattle, WA, funded by Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Charter Ventures, Constellation Ventures, Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd (DNP), PaceSetter Capital Group, Phoenix Partners, TELUS (NYSE: TU) and VantagePoint Venture Partners.
For more information: www.widevine.com.
Contact:
Matt Cannard
Widevine
+ 1 206 254 3124
mcannard@widevine.com
All Rights Reserved. Widevine, Widevine Cypher, Cypher Virtual SmartCard, Cypher VOD, Cypher DCP, Cypher Broadcast, Cypher Express and Widevine Mensor are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Widevine Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners. No express or implied warranties are provided for herein and all specifications are subject to change. The descriptions of Widevine Technologies’ patents and other intellectual property herein are not intended for use in a legal proceeding to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the patents or their claims, or indicate that a Widevine patent claim(s) are materially required to perform or implement any of the listed items.
We were contacted yesterday by someone “in the know” who provided us this update on the fate of Entriq:
“Christopher,
Entriq was folded into Irdeto and is now called Irdeto Digital Media Solutions. They have changed their position to focus on “Content Management” which you can see from the following link: http://www.irdeto.com/solutions/37-contentmanagement.html ”
Update 06.29.09
The Entriq product range is now rebranded to the Irdeto Content Management System (CMS) and remains the same superbly capable product:
- Supports Windows DRM
- Supports WM licences issued from a playready server
- Adobe DRM not supported, but of course flash is
So that pretty much sums it up. Entriq has been shutdown finally after an 8 year run and a rumored $140M in cash. So long and nice to know you Entriq.
All the best to Irdeto as they enter the Digital Media Marketplace.
Apparently, with or without DRM, the music industry is moving ahead. In light of the Universal/Virgin announcement yesterday, Nokia is apparently moving forward with their DRM-enabled “Comes With Music” offering. According to Digital Music News
It really is interesting how some of these news outlets are so fixated on DRM as if it were the driving reason behind the music industry’s woes. In one way it is because the labels enabled Apple to grow so large and so fast with iTunes that they didn’t have to license FairPlay DRM for the iPod. On the other hand it’s sad to continually see writers confused in their publications and confused about the real issues at hand.
Comes with Music has been rumored to be headed to the States later this year. More to come once we get an update from Nokia.
No suprise here. If you follow my posts around the web and at panels and in lists, you will see I have been saying for 2 years that DRM-free MP3s are a bust.
Why? IMHO because users associate MP3 with FREE. Furthermore, users don’t really care about DRM en masse. Yes some very technical writers and bloggers and the technorati slashdotters of the world don’t like DRM. I don’t like kimchi. What I do is avoid eating kimchi as a result. I think it’s clear that people that don’t like DRM can get DRM-free music anywhere they want however it’s hard to say how long these DRM-free offerings might remain viable.
Based on the LA Times Story titled: “Universal Music and Virgin Media, striking out with MP3s?” I would say that the answer is NOT LONG.
With Zune offering the ZunePass for $14.99 a month for content from all the majors… WITH DRM…. and Universal and Virgin indicating they might be headed towards an all you can eat model I suspect the wheels are about to come off the whole DRM-free MP3 thang. It always was just an experiment and just an excuse to try and sell content to the iPod.
14:59:00 and counting.
