Replies to post #27835 on Wave Systems Corp. (fka WAVXQ)

[wavehello]

Tech giants lock down wireless content

Last modified: January 30, 2004, 3:39 PM PST
By Ben Charny , Richard Shim and John Borland
Staff Writer, CNET News.com


A group of technology heavyweights is expected to take the wraps off a secretive effort to secure music and video on
wireless devices, according to sources familiar with the plans.

Formerly known as "Project Hudson," the effort will kick off publicly Monday, with the announcement of new digital rights
management (DRM) specification from industry group the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), as well as the formation of a new licensing
body led by Intel, Nokia, Panasonic and Samsung that will promote the technology, according to sources. Toshiba was originally a
member of the licensing group but has since backed out.

The licensing entity will be known as the Content Management License Administrator (CMLA) and will promote an implementation of
the latest version of OMA's digital rights management standard.

News.context

What's new:
A group of technology heavyweights is expected to announce new technology for securing music and video on wireless devices.

Bottom line:
Development of a wireless content security specification could help spur new mobile media services--and pose a fresh
challenge to Microsoft and others developing similar technology.

For more info:
Track the players

OMA, Intel and Nokia declined to comment on the pending announcements. Panasonic and Samsung did not immediately return
calls.

CMLA aims to ease piracy concerns among movie studios and record labels over a growing number of devices, including cell
phones, capable of connecting to wireless networks. According to one source familiar with the plan, the DRM scheme will be built
into mobile handsets, allowing encrypted files to be streamed onto compliant devices. Known as OMA DRM 2.0 Enabler Release,
the specification could also potentially support devices connected in wireless networks based on the 802.11 standards, or Wi-Fi.

Despite being a relative newcomer in the crowded DRM space, the CMLA plan has already won some early support from major
content owners, sources said. In a sign that at least two major entertainment companies are onboard with some aspects of the
initiative, representatives of Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group are expected to attend an OMA event in Los
Angeles on Monday, when the group releases the latest version of its DRM software.

Entertainment companies have embraced wireless devices as a means to market their artists and as another avenue to sell their
goods. Many major record companies create ring tones, song snippets that replace a phone's prepackaged ring. A growing number
of TV stations sell, usually through carriers, 15- to 30-second downloadable videos based on sports highlights or news broadcasts.
While it's too early to measure the revenues from watching television on a cell phone, the market for ring tones and downloadable
music for cell phones was $4 billion worldwide last year.

Still, some analysts remain skeptical of the market in the near term.

"There are pockets of advanced mobile users who might be looking at this right now," said
Mike McGuire, an analyst at GartnerG2, a division of the Gartner research firm. "But for most
of the population, the compelling argument for extending lots of media types to the mobile
phone has yet to be made."

DRM is an increasingly important technology for media companies, which face daunting
piracy challenges from fast Internet connections and file-sharing networks that provide easy access to libraries of unauthorized
content.

Software makers hope to cash in on the media industry's demand for DRM by supplying security standards that could ultimately give
them a slice of the profits every time a song or movie is bought or played online. They also stand to reap substantial fees from
hardware companies that would be required to license their technology in order to legally play back most copyrighted music and
videos.

A wave of competing and incompatible DRM products has hit the market from Microsoft, Apple Computer, Sony, IBM, RealNetworks
and others, creating interoperability headaches for consumers. For example, Apple's best-selling iPod digital-music player supports
only the company's own flavor of DRM, which is used on songs purchased from its iTunes Music Store. DRM-protected songs
purchased from other music download stores can't be played back on the iPod, nor will iTunes songs play on any MP3 player other
than the iPod.

Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications and Siemens make a total of 46 handsets that use an early version of
OMA's DRM, while Ericsson and Openwave Systems make servers that use the technology, according to OMA's Web site.

Microsoft disharmony?
It is unclear how, or if, the OMA specification will work with competing DRM schemes--Microsoft's Windows Media technology, in
particular.

Microsoft has been a member of the OMA for some time and points to its work within the body as evidence that it is a backer of
open standards and interoperability. However, the company has been relentless in its push toward making Windows Media--and
associated digital rights management tools--a standard for distribution of content on virtually all devices.

Jason Reindorp, group manager of Microsoft's Windows Digital Media Division, said interoperability is key to DRM.

"Digital rights management technology needs to, first of all, enable the seamless flow of media between devices and services, and
we have been working with all points of the industry to ensure this happens," he said. "All of the major music labels, film studios and
more than 50 online content services, as well as 60 portable devices, work with Windows Media and Windows Media DRM, ensuring
the consumer has the best experience, while content is appropriately protected."

That push has been limited on mobile devices, however. The company has been working for more than a year on a portable
device-based rights management system that would include the ability to block access to a song or other content after a given time
or subscription has run out, which is expected to open up the MP3 player market to online music subscription services such as
Napster.

However, Microsoft hasn't made a strong move to focus its Smartphone or PocketPC software on media devices. Toward that end, it
is touting the Portable Media Center, a design for a small handheld device that will store and play audio and video. Versions of this,
developed by Creative Technology, will be on the market later this year.

With this on the way, the tension between OMA and Microsoft may center on devices rather than on rights management tools. OMA
is heavily weighted toward accessing the Internet directly through mobile devices, while Microsoft still looks toward the PC.

"Microsoft's big goal is to turn the PC into the ideal device, on which to store and manipulate content," said Matt Rosoff, an analyst
at research firm Directions on Microsoft. "To make that strategy work, there need to be various devices which connect. The PC is
the hub, and (the Portable Media Center) is a spoke."
http://news.com.com/2100-7351_3-5151260.html?tag=nefd_lede

[barge]

Rachel--Outstanding post! e/

[keV]

Rachelelise...

Now THAT is a very articulated response, and addresses the

meat of my concerns. The history of Waves'

mis-leading statements concerning deployment time-lines,

recognizing revs, projected unit sales figures, etc., etc., etc.,

are ane will be fodder for future appraisals of our current AND

PAST CEO's. The BOD also will be thusly rated ( be-rated )

for the allowance of these ( at a minimum, border-line illegal )

performances; the on-going SEC probe is our proof of that,

and there can be no defense that all's well now...it simply

ain't.

The services that've demoed ARE SHOWCASED by Wave,

AND her frilly-skirted, mis-led cheerleaders...and the share

price tells REAL tale; and THAT is that no-one seems

interested...

...WAVE CAN"T SELL IT.

Contacts w/my company requesting real info refer me to the

Q's and K's and the PR's...and the latest PR has some pretty

scary BOLDS...but cheerleaders won't talk about those.

If we all sit around and say how great everything is, w/o

questioning management...giving them free reign ( which is

what they currently enjoy ), motivation wallows.

And, they get bonus after bonus for a lack of performance.

It's time management chills-out in the penalty box...this rise to

a level of incompetance and staying there is un-sat.

IDF's and other shows, forums, demoes, dinners, meatless

PR's, etc., etc., etc., have come and gone w/o share-price

movement...and still the frilly-dressed cheerleaders go RAH !

RAH ! RAH ! , legs kicking high and voices soaring to the

throngs of lemmings rushing to connect those elusive dots.

JEEZE !! Wake up and smell the dilution that didn't have to

be, but for the incompetence of the Wave sales team.

Everything that Wave has started has gone dormant: WE,

Global Wave, myPublish, WaveDirect, IshopHere, FreePC,

Weets' Company that didn't sell anything ( I was waiting to

buy ),....and on & on it goes. Wave history of running a

company is very bad.

SO, you say that the up-comming IDF will produce something

exciting ?? The cheerleaders will no doubt find SOMETHING

about which to dance around the hall, but woe if they can't

hear the violins playing.