HRTS eNews - 01/31/2010 (Plain Text Version)
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In this issue: |
The New Hollywood
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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