Consortium formed to standardize digital media

Lee Stewart · 09-12-2008, 04:50 PM

Consortium formed to standardize digital media

DECE to issue licensable specification

Quote:

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 9/12/2008
SEPT. 12 | Major studios, retailers and consumer electronics manufacturers are banding together in a new consortium to help standardize digital media so that it will play on a wide variety of devices and platforms.

More than 20 companies have signed onto the consortium, named the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) LLC, including Fox Entertainment Group, Lionsgate, NBC Universal, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros and Sony. Member retailers and manufacturers include Best Buy, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Microsoft and Toshiba, among others.

The consortium’s goal is to end consumer confusion over digital content that may not play on all devices.

One current example is DVD-embedded digital copy, which, depending on studio terms, may not be compatible with PCs, Macs, Apple iPods or PlayStation Portables.

DECE LLC plans to issue a licensable specification, which will include a standard logo and brand that companies will stamp on content in order to guarantee to customers of its universal playback. The specification will encompass hardware and software requirements for companies to follow.

“This is great news for consumers hungry for access to a wider array of digital content they can enjoy on any device they own,” said Mitch Singer, president of DECE LLC. “We formed this consortium to give consumers that kind of power and choice. To open up the market for digital distribution, we are developing a specification that connects a wide variety of services and devices. DECE LLC is taking the lessons learned from the successful ‘buy once, play anywhere’ experience that we enjoy with CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray today, and using a similar approach in developing the next-generation digital media experience.”

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6595890.html

DonnyDC · 09-12-2008, 05:00 PM

FINALLY!!!

I was wondering when the studios would realize how stupid it is to each have a different method of transferring digital copies.
Now lets hope apple doesnt get some sort of special treatment and digital copies are universally accepted across zunes, psps, and everything else.

**PFC5** · 09-12-2008, 05:27 PM

It sounds like they are realizing that with the current situation that the Digital Copy discs included with some BD titles are mostly worthless without devices to play them in other than computers.

Hopefully this can get some traction, but it still means I likely would have to replace ALL my portable devices and bedroom SD DVD players with a device that can play these discs.

I would rather have them just include a SD DVD disc on titles myself but that hope is dimming now.

ack_bak · 09-12-2008, 05:34 PM

This sooo needed to happen. Now let's see what they do..

The_Omega_Man · 09-12-2008, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ack_bak

This sooo needed to happen. Now let's see what they do..

Be Afraid!

Be Very Afraid!

Lee Stewart · 09-12-2008, 09:14 PM

Media group to create new digital video "ecosystem"

Quote:

Sep 12, 2008 5:57pm EDT Email | Print | Share| Reprints | Single Page | Recommend (0) [-] Text [+] By Gina Keating

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A group of media industry companies said it is planning to build a digital world where video devices and content websites play together in perfect harmony, and consumers can safely store their digital content and access it anywhere in the world.

The consortium of Hollywood studios, retailers, service providers, and consumer electronics and information technology companies, called the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem, or DECE, is working on a "uniform digital media experience" but won't announce details until the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

The consortium said it will call for interoperability of devices and websites, and usage rules that allow consumers to copy content onto household playback devices and to burn their content to physical media, DECE President Mitch Singer said.

The plan also would provide customers a "rights locker" or virtual library where consumers' digital video purchases would be stored for retrieval in a manner similar to accessing an email account, Singer said.

The consortium plans to design a logo that will be placed on products and websites to let consumers know that those products and services are compatible with DECE standards.

"We will be developing a ... specification that services and device makers can license. They can use the logo to associate their device, knowing that when the consumer goes to buy the content, they know it will play," Singer said.

The new digital framework would turn Apple Inc's "closed" iTunes model on its head, Singer said.

"This is very different from the Apple ecosystem," he said. "We encourage Apple to join the consortium. We don't ever anticipate Apple going away or this consortium replacing it."

The consortium aims to recapture in the digital universe the sense of comfort and simplicity of use that consumers found with DVDs, said Mark Coblitz, senior vice president of strategic planning for Comcast Corp.

"They knew that when they brought (a DVD) home, they could play it on the device of their choice," Coblitz said. "We see this vision of 'buy once, play anywhere.'"

The consortium includes Alcatel-Lucent, Best Buy Co Inc, Cisco Systems Inc, Comcast, News Corp's Fox Entertainment Group, Hewlett-Packard Co, Intel, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp, Microsoft Corp, General Electric Co's NBC Universal, Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures, Philips, Sony Corp, Toshiba, VeriSign, and Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros Entertainment.

(Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

http://www.reuters.com/article/techn...BrandChannel=0

Lee Stewart · 09-12-2008, 09:17 PM

Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem launches without Apple

*SNIP*

Quote:

CES 09 launch date?

Rewriting history may just be a matter of issuing a press release but overcoming the iTunes-sized elephant in the room may prove more problematic for DECE. Apple has jealously guarded its iTunes/iPod gilded cage and its absence from this consortium doesn't bode well for the new standard.

We're not expecting full technical details of DECE until CES 09, though, so that gives the gang a good four months to get Jobs and co on board. Anyone taking bets?

By Mark Harris

http://www.techradar.com/news/audio/...t-apple-464703

The_Omega_Man · 09-12-2008, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart

Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem launches without Apple

*SNIP*

By Mark Harris

http://www.techradar.com/news/audio/...t-apple-464703

Open Standards V.S. Proprietary The Age Old Technology Battle!

Bravestime · 09-12-2008, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart

Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem launches without Apple

*SNIP*

By Mark Harris

http://www.techradar.com/news/audio/...t-apple-464703

This doesn't surprise me. All corporations want to protect their cash cows. It appears Apple feels a bit threatened.

Dare · 09-13-2008, 11:35 AM

It sounds like they're looking for a way to clean up the mess caused by their DRM.

But making their content only compatible with certain devices is the whole point of DRM.

09-12-2008, 05:27 PM	#3
PFC5 Super Moderator Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 28,349	It sounds like they are realizing that with the current situation that the Digital Copy discs included with some BD titles are mostly worthless without devices to play them in other than computers. Hopefully this can get some traction, but it still means I likely would have to replace ALL my portable devices and bedroom SD DVD players with a device that can play these discs. I would rather have them just include a SD DVD disc on titles myself but that hope is dimming now. __________________ Denon AVR-887 Klipsch RP-5 Pwred Towers (mains) (525 watts peak each 12"Subs) All Klipsch RC-25(ctr),(2)SS1(surr),(2)SS1(rearSurr) Toshiba (2)HD-A20,PS3,BD35 For SACD/DVD-A Samsung HD-841 Panny 50pz80u plasma SETTINGS RCA HD50LPW162 50"DLP w/HD2+ SA 3250HD 47" LCD+Yamaha5790+HD-A1(bedroom) Harmony 680 + (2) 670s (amazing remote/support) Game room with Onkyo receiver & B&W Speakers The_Cable_Game Take the high ground and be happier

09-13-2008, 11:35 AM	#10
Dare I moon you. Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Phoenix, Arizona Posts: 4,436	It sounds like they're looking for a way to clean up the mess caused by their DRM. But making their content only compatible with certain devices is the whole point of DRM. __________________ LG GGC-H20L Super Multi Blue Blu-ray & HD DVD ROM Drive 58 31

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09-12-2008, 05:00 PM	#2
DonnyDC High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 2,198	FINALLY!!! I was wondering when the studios would realize how stupid it is to each have a different method of transferring digital copies. Now lets hope apple doesnt get some sort of special treatment and digital copies are universally accepted across zunes, psps, and everything else.

09-12-2008, 05:34 PM	#4
ack_bak Hidef Junkie Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 2,416	This sooo needed to happen. Now let's see what they do..