e.Digital Corporation (fka EDIG)

[Tinroad]

IBM To Ship New Digital Copyright Tools
05 Apr 2002, 09:02 AM EST
http://ragingbull.lycos.com/mboard/boards.cgi?board=EDIG&read=944325 (kudos to DABOSS at RB)

As the debate over digital copyright laws rages, technology marches on. IBM next week will unveil a new version of its suite of tools for encrypting content and providing secure access. Version 2 of Electronic Media Management System extends support beyond audio files to all forms of digital content, including video, streaming media, text, and images.

IBM also has included Java-based application programming interfaces for integration with its DB2 database software; WebSphere application server products; Content Manager; and VideoCharger, an application for streaming video. While of particular interest to the music industry and Hollywood, EMMS also can be used in other industries, such as health care and financial services, to protect customer records, says Scott Burnett, director of marketing for IBM's global digital media group. The heart of EMMS 2's security is a "clearinghouse program"; that acts as a central control point for managing, authorizing, and reporting transactions. The software verifies licensing requests for content, issues licenses that let authorized users access content, and provides tracking information to help determine royalty payments and administer document-distribution policies. A "content-hosting program"; is the storage facility for EMMS-formatted content that will be distributed throughout a network. The system also includes software development kits for wrapping content in an EMMS format and adding software to link the client, whether a PC, PDA, or other electronic device, to EMMS security. A typical deployment of EMMS version 2, which ships April 30, will be priced at $500,000.

While IBM and other vendors develop better tools for protecting copyrighted digital content, the debate over the rights of artists, record and movie companies, and consumers continues. Several bills addressing the issue are floating in Congress, but none satisfies all sides. Hollywood and record companies want new laws and private-industry pacts that build copy protection into every recording or playback device in the market. Electronic device manufacturers and consumer groups argue that such stringent rules would prevent people who purchase music CDs or movies from copying the content for personal, noncommercial use, which current law allows. Other than a general aversion to more government regulation, IBM has taken a neutral position. Says Burnett, "IBM provides the technology, and it's up to industry to come up with the usage conditions." - Antone Gonsalves