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RealNetworks Unveils RealSystem Media Commerce Suite
Groundbreaking Secure Media Delivery and Commerce Platform Launches With Support From Leading Media Companies

Media Commerce Suite Enables Secure Distribution of Movies, Music and Other Digital Content to More Than 200 Million RealPlayer Users Worldwide
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010620/sfw067.html

SEATTLE, June 20 /PRNewswire/ -- RealNetworks®, Inc. (Nasdaq: RNWK - news), the global leader in Internet media delivery, today launched the RealSystem® Media Commerce Suite, a platform offering the most complete and flexible commerce solution available for the secure licensing and delivery of digital media. The RealSystem Media Commerce Suite includes products and services for secure media packaging, license generation and high-quality content delivery to a trusted media player base across all major platforms. It empowers rights holders to create a range of robust business models for distributing rich media to the broadest worldwide audience, and will create many new ways for consumers to access and enjoy digital media.

Built on RealSystem iQ, the RealSystem Media Commerce Suite enables rights holders to distribute movies, music and other digital content to over 200 million RealPlayer® users. Over 15 million copies of RealPlayer enabled with the Media Commerce Suite functionality have already been installed since March of 2001. The Media Commerce Suite extends the RealSystem and RealPlayer open architecture to accommodate the incorporation of a wide range of rights management systems. It easily integrates into all types of existing infrastructures and back-end systems, supporting a broad set of business models including purchase, rental, video on-demand, and subscription services.

``The launch of the RealSystem Media Commerce Suite will ignite the market for commercial media distribution,'' said Rob Glaser, chairman and CEO, RealNetworks, Inc. ``By combining an extremely comprehensive, renewable security system and deep integration with our installed based of 200 million registered users, the Media Commerce Suite offers a true breakthrough in both security and ease of use. We believe the RealSystem Media Commerce Suite will generate huge benefits for rights holders, artists and consumers alike.''

The RealSystem Media Commerce Suite launches with support from an array of major media companies and rights holders. The RealSystem Media Commerce Suite will provide the security for MusicNet, the online music subscription service from AOL Time Warner, Bertelsmann, EMI and RealNetworks scheduled for release later this year.

``It's vitally important today that we have secure and reliable solutions for licensing and delivering digital media,'' said Andreas Schmidt, president and chief executive office of Bertelsmann eCommerce Group. ``With the Media Commerce Suite, RealNetworks is providing a rights management solution that will help companies meet consumers' growing desire for digital media.''

``The protection of EMI's music content demands a trusted and secure delivery solution that is as flexible as it is reliable,'' said Jay Samit, Senior Vice President of EMI Recorded Music. ``RealNetworks' new Media Commerce Suite will ensure that MusicNet offers the security EMI artists need, while letting fans enjoy their favorite music in whole new ways.''

``RealNetworks delivers a solution with clear insight to the business models of the rights holder,'' said Yair Landau, President of Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment. ``We believe this gives us many opportunities to safely deliver our content.''

Through its planned support of the XMCL specification (information below), the RealSystem Media Commerce Suite is the first secure delivery platform capable of letting rights holders utilize multiple back-end systems, rights security and rights management solutions while still protecting their content. The RealSystem Media Commerce Suite can be deployed by media companies, consumer retail fronts and clearing houses within their existing business management infrastructures. The architecture is open to enable the integration of other advanced digital rights management solutions, such as InterTrust Technologies' flexible rights management tools, and any other appropriate technologies. It supports and encourages the existence of multiple interoperable systems, allowing rights holders to reduce deployment costs and explore new business models with the confidence that their content is completely secure. These new tools will give consumers and rights holders the freedom to buy and sell digital media with a level of flexibility and security never before possible.

The RealSystem Media Commerce Suite, which is available today from RealNetworks, is comprised of four products and an array of security services including:


-- RealSystem Packager -- The RealSystem Packager is a utility that
prepares encoded content for streaming and download distribution
through the RealSystem iQ delivery platform. It employs strong
cryptographic algorithms to ensure the integrity of content is
maintained at all stages of content distribution and consumption.
-- RealSystem License Server -- The RealSystem License Server
authenticates and secures licenses for the secured content. It revokes
licenses and components as necessary, and provides backup and
restoration in the event of an accidental loss of license. The
RealSystem License Server supports all media and provides flexible
access rights (time-limited, duration-limited, times of play, or any
combination). It also supports integration with other DRM systems for
the implementation of a complete set of business models, including
subscription, video-on-demand, rental, ownership, promotion, and even
business-to-business rights such as multilevel distribution and content
syndication. The server is OS-independent and will support HP-UX, IBM
AIX, Linux, Sun Solaris, and Windows NT/2000.
-- RealSystem Trusted Delivery Plug-in -- This provides rights holders
with the ability to deliver RealSystem Packager processed content in a
seamless way via streaming or download. It fully leverages RealSystem
iQ's highly intelligent media delivery platform to deliver content from
all platforms to all devices.
-- Media Commerce Upgrade for RealPlayer -- This free upgrade extends
existing RealPlayers to allow for the online and offline playback of
secure content. It securely stores and enforces rights while
maintaining the high quality consumer experience. The tamper-resistant
client has a small footprint and is an easy upgrade for consumers to
access via the RealNetworks' "AutoUpdate" service.


RealNetworks today also announced an industry-wide effort to establish a common language of digital media business rules that will give content owners and rights holders the standardized media commerce infrastructure they need to fully monetize their media assets. By using this common language, known as the eXtensible Media Commerce Language (XMCL), rights holders will be able to bring to the Internet existing media business models, such as rental, subscription and purchase, and take advantage of new commerce opportunities enabled by digital media. XMCL also provides rights holders the freedom to use multiple back-end systems that interoperate with rights management solutions under a common interchange language. More information about XMCL will be available soon at http://www.xmcl.org .

About RealSystem iQ

RealSystem iQ is a robust end-to-end, standards-based, OS-independent, network media delivery system providing the common architecture for the global delivery of digital media over the Internet -- from any platform, to any device, in multiple media formats, from narrowband audio to high fidelity broadband video. RealSystem iQ is designed to efficiently broadcast, transport and deliver the breakthrough quality of RealAudio® and RealVideo® as well as media formats including: MP3, Apple QuickTime, Flash and over 45 other media formats via RealSystem's extensible architecture. RealSystem iQ operates at multiple levels to reliably deliver both live and on-demand media and eliminate congestion in the ``middle of the network.'' Through distributed network configurations of interconnected RealSystem Servers, RealSystem iQ empowers all servers to broadcast into the network, receive content from other servers, and deliver media to vast audiences, including over 200 million unique registered RealPlayer users. RealSystem iQ also provides a highly extensible architecture enabling delivery to next-generation media playback devices including wireless mobile devices, game consoles, and broadband ready set-top boxes.

About RealNetworks

RealNetworks, Inc is the global leader in Internet media delivery. It develops and markets software products and services designed to enable users of personal computers and other consumer electronic devices to send and receive audio, video and other multimedia services using the Web. Consumers can access and experience audio/video programming and download RealNetworks' consumer software on the Internet at http://www.real.com . RealNetworks' systems and corporate information is located on the Internet at http://www.realnetworks.com .

NOTE: RealNetworks, RealAudio, RealVideo, RealSystem and RealPlayer are registered trademarks of RealNetworks, Inc.

SOURCE: RealNetworks, Inc.