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January 31, 2010
 
HRTS News
Save the date 2/23/10, The Cable Chiefs
HRTS Newsmaker Luncheon Recap: The Hitmakers
Feature Article
The New Hollywood
Member Profiles
Richard Lawrence
HRTS Online
The Hitmakers video and pics posted
Member News
Welcome New Members
HRTS Member Spotlight - Ted Harbert
JHRTS
JHRTS News & Announcements
About HRTS
Officers, Board of Directors, Staff

HRTS Season Partners
  
The Lippin Group



The Cable Chiefs Luncheon
The very popular Cable Chiefs luncheon returns to HRTS. Panelists and moderator to be announced. Advance tickets available now. Click here for more info and to purchase tickets.

Tue, Feb. 23rd
11:30am - 2:00pm
The Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel


Who are you rooting for in Super Bowl 44?
Saints
Colts
The Commercials


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The New Hollywood


by Chris Davison, chris@lthmedia.com
With a DVD, you buy it wherever and it will play in any DVD player or in your computer, regardless of maker. With an mp3, you buy it wherever and it will play in any digital audio player or in your computer, regardless of maker. With digital video files, you buy an AVI or an MOV or a WMV or an FLV or perhaps an MKV and it might play in your computer or it might not, it might play in your mobile phone but it probably won’t, and forget about playing it in your DVD player. The decentralized, proprietary nature of digital video files has been a problem for many years, making it very difficult to grow the marketplace and monetize content.
This is the bad news.

The good news is that a cross-industry coalition called the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) has finally come up with what they are calling the Common File Format for digital video files. The DECE is a coalition of 48 member companies from the entertainment, software, hardware, retail, infrastructure and delivery industries, members who gathered together under the leadership of Mitch Singer, Chief Technology Officer of Sony Pictures Entertainment. The stated goal of the DECE is to develop the next generation digital media experience based on open, licensable specifications, to agree upon and use a Common File Format in order to create a profitable, global digital marketplace.

The idea is “Buy Once, Play Anywhere” and what you’ll be buying is not a DVD or an mp3 or any other type of hardware or software goods. Instead of actual goods such as a disc or a file, what you’ll be buying is the rights to a certain piece of content. The rights you purchase will be stored in a Digital Rights Locker (your content ‘bank account’), where they will be available to you 24/7. So, let’s say that you purchase the rights to view the latest hot movie or TV show. You’ll be able to access these rights using your Blu-ray player, your net-connected television (many models of which are coming out this year), on your computer or via your smartphone or other mobile media handset. It won’t matter who manufactured the Blu-ray player or television or computer or handset since the whole idea of the Common File Format is that it will work anywhere.

What if your company has a great idea and wants to get in on this new rights-based economy? The DECE is not proprietary, it provides a set of open-source specifications with an open Application Programming Interface (API) that allows your storefront, service or device to integrate access to the Digital Rights Lockers into your own consumer offering. Since the DECE provides a set of open-source standards, there is no pre-set pricing, your company sets the price points it thinks the market will bear.

What about piracy? I asked Mitch Singer this question and he said the “DECE will offer something better than free by giving people more access (cloud-based, anytime, anywhere), more options to experience (download, stream, one-time or over time) and more control (manage across platforms and devices) over their media than ever before”. In other words: convenience. In a world where no one takes the time to read Terms Of Service or End User License Agreements or manuals for new devices, the DECE makes a good argument that consumers are willing to pay for convenience.

On a related note, if you lose your Blu-ray player/disc or have it stolen or the retailer you bought it from goes out of business then you are up the creek without a paddle. With the new rights-based business model, however, none of these scenarios would pose a problem for you since you own the rights to the content and so you can access it whenever you like. Further, if you buy a new laptop or Blu-ray player at Best Buy (a DECE member) then while you are in-store they can check your personal Digital Rights Locker and ask you if you want some or all of your existing content loaded onto your new device.

If you would like to know more about the DECE or the Common File Format please feel free to check out http://www.decellc.com or to email me at chris@lthmedia.com

 
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HRTS Since 1947 the HRTS has been the entertainment industry’s premiere information and networking forum. HRTS events are the only place where leading executives from across the industry gather under one roof, multiple times a year to discuss issues relevant to the ongoing success of our business. HRTS Members and our industry partners represent the best and the brightest in town. Is your company ready to join the ranks of HRTS? There are many ways for individuals and companies to get more involved. To find out how, call (818) 789-1182 or email info@hrts.org

 


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