Lasse Penttinen
11 Jan 2003 12:46
Digital Rights Management is a hot topic..
RealNetworks (Quote, Company Info) plans to hit the CES trade show floor Thursday with a new Helix DRM digital rights management technology touting support for the popular (and competing) MP3 and MPEG-4 formats, among others.
Helix DRM replaces the company's Media Commerce Suite (MCS), which provided DRM only for RealAudio and RealVideo formats, and is part of RealNetworks' ambitious open-source push for adoption among content producers and consumer electronics manufacturers.
RealNetworks VP of media systems Dan Sheeran told internetnews.com the decision to support competing formats with a DRM product would let content owners, for the first time, deliver secure content to any PC or non-PC device using a single DRM and a single engine to support all formats.
As with many undertakings by Real, the latest strategy shift puts the company nose-to-nose with Microsoft (Quote, Company Info), which has its own DRM product for its proprietary Windows Media format. Sheeran described Microsoft's DRM suite as "a distasteful offering" because it forced media and consumer electronic companies into using only the Windows Media format.
"Helix DRM is compelling because once you get beyond the PC, neither the Real or Windows media formats are dominant. On music players, the dominant ones are MP3 and on DVD players, it's MPEG. With Helix DRM, content producers can still protect the products, even in standards-based, non-proprietary formats," Sheeran said.
Available Thursday as a beta release Helix DRM will still support RealAudio, RealVideo in addition to MPEG-4, MP3, H.263 video, and AAC and Narrowband AMR audio, Sheeran explained. It won't support Windows Media "because that technology is already available" but Sheeran hinted Windows support could be added down the road.
Internet.com