Just saw this hit paidcontent.org and thought I would pass it on to our readers.
NBA.com Opens Own Store For Playoff Downloads
By Staci D. Kramer - Wed 09 May 2007 04:09 PM PST
The NBA was an anchor tenant of the Google Video Marketplace but didn’t re-up after the initial one-season agreement. The league has a channel on YouTube but didn’t replace the marketplace potential until it opened the NBA.com Download Store Wednesday. The store will offer full downloads of playoff games and the final.
Price chart: Single games, $2.99; individual playoff games, $12.99; entire playoffs run $79.99. Classic games from last year’s NBA Finals and other select games are $2.99 each.
– The league is also opening the NBA.com Video Vault as a destination for historic video, including top 10 video lists and best moment highlights,
– More than 14 million NBA videos have been served on YouTube since the February launch.
– In addition, Yahoo has highlights, press conference recaps ad top plays of the day. NBA.com is also offering video widgets.
NBA Mobile: Amp’d has live streaming of NBA TV, including live mobile broadcasts of some playoff games.
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BUYDRM Key Analysis:
1. NBA.com uses Windows Media Rights Manager DRM.
2. Business Model is Pay-Per-View limited to 3 PC’s or Devices.
3. Licensing is infinite as in this is really a download to own store.
4. Akamai provides the downloads via StreamOS.
5. Entriq provides the DRM/Download Management via MediaSphere.
6. User required to join nba.com where they can store their credit card.
7. Licensing limited to US Citizens only.
I noticed that the NBA is using Stream OS, which as many of you know I was a co-inventor of back in 2000 at NaviSite. It’s a great product and the NineSystems folks who were running it are now part of Akamai. It’s great to see the product in use so widely with major brand names.
They are also using Entriq for the DRM and Download Manager and License management. This is done via some CAB installs of the Entriq MediaSphere product and an NBA customized version of the Entriq download manager. I did have some problems during the install and have still not received my file. Clicking the help section links did not seem to reveal how to resolve my issue and I have contacted their product team and should know more tomorrow.
All in all the process of joining NBA.com was a couple simple standard shopping cart checkout pages which then invoked the MediaSpere/NBA Download Manager install which should have led to me getting the file. While still new and buggy in the early-on, I am sure the NBA folks will have success with this product.
Question: Why is this relevant?
Answer: The NBA owns the rights to all their games and have taken the steps necessary to start selling this content in Windows Media Format using Windows Media Rights Manager DRM just like the technology in KeyOS.
Question: How can we build something like this?
Answer: To launch a similar service all you need is:
1. KeyOS Account
2. KeyOS CDN Account / any CDN Account
3. KeyOS Download Manager
3. Payment Gateway like Authorize.net or PayFlow Pro
Of course you will need content you own or have licensed, a merchant banking account and a website. If you need more advice on this contact us here at BUYDRM
To visit the new NBA Download Store click here:
To learn more about how the NBA is dealing with support issues and educating people about their Windows Media DRM based offering click here:
http://download.nba.com/CMSContent.aspx?id=31
Christopher Levy, CEO and Founder
BUYDRM
clevy@buydrm.com
http://www.buydrm.com
That’s right…. the moment you have been waiting for. A meaningful, relevant and interesting blog about all things DRM. Let’s face it DRM has a lot of proponents and opponents and it sure does get a lot of press. We thought it was time that the DRM Industry at large cast a brighter and broader light on DRM issues as they relate to consumers, content holders, consumer electronic manufacturers and IP technology.
So we will begin this ambitious and tenacious look at the world of DRM in the coming months and to start off our new venture here at BUYDRM let’s take a look back to little more than a month ago as we headed to Las Vegas for NAB:
Apr 10 2007 8:17PM
Before Patrick and I disappear into the world of NAB in Vegas next week I wanted to point out a couple great articles that provide broader insight into the current DRM technology environment.
Both Paul and Bill are industry insiders as well as experts but more importantly, their writing shows a true grasp of all the issues about DRM to be considered by today’s businesses and tomorrow’s success stories.
This first article by Paul Resnikoff of Digital Music News writes:
“Sure, movies may be next, especially as broadband pipes fatten, file-transfer technologies grow more sophisticated, and storage limitations become negligent. But that cloud is still hovering in the distance, and the gaming industry is drowning in billions! Both have protected architectures and controlled viewing environments, so why should music chart a different course? “The notion that music does not deserve the same protections as software, television, film, video games or other intellectual property simply because there is an unprotected legacy product available in the physical world is completely without logic or merit,” said Warner Music chairman Edgar Bronfman, Jr., during an earnings call in early February. “We will not abandon DRM, nor will we disadvantage services that are successfully implementing DRM for both content and consumers.”
From: http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/040407parting
From DRM Watch, Bill Rosenblatt presents a positive outlook on the use of DRM technology when he writes:
“Is DRM dead? We don’t think so. Rights management should continue to play a role in helping content owners define different economic offers. Subscription on-demand services like Rhapsody and Napster are unworkable without DRM, and certain types of users prefer them. Furthermore, we don’t see film and television content owners changing their stances on DRM anytime soon; this deal will most likely fall under the heading of “music industry mistakes we don’t want to repeat.”
From: http://www.drmwatch.com/ocr/article.php/3669946
More to come Friday as we talk more about DRM and it’s relevancy to the Content Industry at large.
Christopher Levy, CEO and Founder
BUYDRM
clevy@buydrm.com
http://www.buydrm.com
