Verance Announces Availability of Audio Watermark Technology for High-Definition Entertainment Formats

3 juillet 2007


Communiqué de presse

Licensing Program Provides Content Protection Technology Adopted by AACS and Major Motion Picture Studios to Blu-Ray and HD DVD Manufacturers

SAN DIEGO—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Verance Corporation today announced the immediate availability of its audio watermark technology for licensing by manufacturers of Blu-ray and HD DVD players and components. The licenses provide access to technical specifications, implementations, and intellectual property rights necessary for the inclusion of the Verance audio watermark detection within their products on a reasonable and non-discriminatory basis.

“The new high-definition home entertainment formats enable consumers to experience home video in ways never before possible and create both opportunities and risks for entertainment companies and consumer product manufacturers,” said Nil Shah, chief executive officer of Verance. “The Verance watermark technology provides value to all participants in the marketplace by encouraging availability of a broad selection of compelling titles for consumers to experience in new ways while discouraging the use of the emerging formats as a growth platform for piracy.”

AACS LA, LLC (http://www.aacsla.com), the cross-industry consortium that is providing the content protection architecture for use in next-generation optical media formats (including HD DVD and Blu-ray), identified the Verance audio watermark technology as an element of its content protection solution and approved the use of Verance watermark on AACS-protected pre-recorded HD DVD and Blu-ray discs in February 2006. AACS is expected to release final license agreements requiring the inclusion of VCMS/AV detector technology in HD DVD and Blu-ray players in the coming months.

“Warner Bros. believes in providing consumers a wide array of choices as to how they access and consume our content, and Digital Rights Management is a tool that allows us to offer these different business propositions,” said President, Warner Bros. Technical Operations and Chief Technology Officer, Warner Bros. Entertainment Chris Cookson. “Verance’s watermark technology is an important component of the robust content protection necessary for next generation optical media and we support its use on our HD DVD and Blu-Ray discs.”

According to Verance, the licensing program will enable high-definition entertainment player and component manufacturers to develop products that reach the full potential of the new formats. The Verance watermark technology provides HD DVD and Blu-ray players with the capability to identify and restrict the use of watermarked content taken from theatrical release print and prerecorded home video sources and redistributed without authorization.

Mitch Singer, chief technology officer of Sony Pictures Entertainment, said, "The unauthorized and illegal trafficking of movies that have been camcorded in a movie theater is a serious problem that increases the cost of entertainment for honest people everywhere. Verance’s VCMS/AV technology provides a new tool in combating the illegal distribution of our movies and is the most effective and direct technical means available to curb this problem.”

Adopters of the Verance technology include Universal Studios, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Microsoft Corporation, who have all licensed the technology since it was first announced in 2003.

“Until now, available content protection technologies have been ‘point solutions’, addressing a problem in a particular format, device or distribution avenue,” said President of Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Universal Pictures Digital Platforms Group Craig Kornblau. “For Universal Studios, the compelling feature of Verance’s watermark technology is that its capabilities extend throughout the lifecycle of content, including promotional, theatrical, home video, broadcast and online distribution. In our trials to date, we have successfully employed the technologies on dozens of projects, placing tens of millions of units of content carrying the Verance watermark into theatrical, home video and promotional distribution. We look forward to working closely with our distribution partners in furthering the adoption of this valuable technology.”

More information on the Verance audio watermark technology and a form to submit licensing requests are available at http://www.verance.com/vcms.

About Verance

Verance is a leading developer of technologies and solutions that track, manage, and enhance the use of media content. Verance holds a significant portfolio of proven audio watermarking technologies that have been deployed globally in a variety of business and consumer application areas. Verance is the creator of the Verance Content Management System (VCMS), which is the worldwide industry standard watermark for copyright protection of recorded music, film and television content and is a component of the Blu-ray, HD DVD, DVD-Audio, and SD-Audio formats. Additional information about Verance and its technologies, products and services can be found at http://www.verance.com.


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