Worldwide
Recording Industry Announces
Precedent-Setting Initiative to Address New Digital Music Opportunities
Effort Unites Record Companies with Technology Industries
to Create
An Open Specification for Digital Music Security
NEW YORK,
December 15, 1998 At a press conference today, leaders
of the worldwide recording industry announced the Secure Digital
Music Initiative (SDMI), a framework to work with the technology
community to create a voluntary digital music security specification
by next fall. The open specification will protect copyrighted music
in all existing and emerging digital formats and through all delivery
channels.
Driven by the
SDMI Forum, an open body of companies involved in digital music,
the initiative will achieve three objectives. It will answer consumer
demand for convenient access to quality recordings, ensure copyright
protection for artists work, and enable technology and music
companies to build successful businesses.
In planning
for nearly a year, the initiative was announced by leading worldwide
music heads, including: Strauss Zelnick, president and CEO
of BMG Entertainment; Ken Berry, president of EMI Recorded
Music; Thomas D. Mottola, chairman and CEO of Sony Music
Entertainment; Doug Morris, chairman and CEO of Universal Music
Group; Bob Daly, chairman and co-CEO, Warner Bros. and Warner
Music Group; Terry Semel, chairman and co-CEO of Warner Bros.
and Warner Music Group; Hilary Rosen, president and CEO of
the Recording Industry Association of America; and Jason Berman,
chairman-elect and chief executive of the International Federation
of the Phonographic Industry. Berman also represented the Recording
Industry Association of Japan.
In addition
to major and independent record labels, many preeminent technology
companies AOL, AT&T, IBM, Lucent, Matsushita, Microsoft,
RealNetworks, Sony Corporation and Toshiba champion the
initiative. It is expected that many other large and small companies
will join the effort. Enclosed in the press kit are supporting statements
already received from Aris Technologies, Diamond Multimedia,
Headspace, Iomega, Liquid Audio, Samsung and Texas Instruments.
"Creating
a voluntary, open security specification benefits everyone,"
said RIAAs Rosen. "It will enable consumers to conveniently
access the music of their choice. It will encourage artists, producers,
songwriters, publishers, recording companies and others in the music
industry to make their music available in new ways, knowing that
it will be more secure. It will also encourage technology companies
to move forward with interoperable products and services.
"This initiative
is about the technology community developing an open security system
that promotes compatible products in a competitive marketplace,"
said Rosen. Its not about the recording industry imposing
a standard on technology companies. Well simply provide guidance
on the needs of our industry and its customers."
"The recording
industry has long been a beneficiary of new technology," said
IFPIs Berman. "Music CDs are household items today because
we were quick to adopt this superior technology years ago. We see
the Internet, high-density discs and other music delivery channels
as providing enormous opportunities for us. This global initiative
will help us put music in the hands of more people, in more ways,
than we could have ever dreamed before."
"We must
establish an appropriate method to protect copyright," said
Nobuo Ikeguchi, president of the Recording Industry Association
of Japan. "It is one of our most important issues. The RIAJ
is eager to cooperate fully offering our knowledge and experience
in the implementation of SDMI."
The
SDMI Forum
The SDMI will be an open forum for all commercial companies significantly
involved in technologies relating to digital music. Participating
companies will be encouraged to bring their approaches to digital
music security and to work together to establish and document an
open architecture and specification for protecting music. Many companies
and established groups are currently developing approaches and solutions
to secure digital music. The forum will provide a means to build
upon and harmonize these efforts. Products and services that conform
to the open standard will have compatible and interoperable security
features, and will be certified as SDMI compliant.
The recording
industrys role in the forum will be to provide guidance as
to the features attractive to artists, record companies and consumers.
The effort will include representatives of independent record labels
to ensure that the initiative is inclusive, and that all points
of view are represented. Other music industry groups will also be
invited so that the forum will understand the important work being
undertaken around the world by music publisher and songwriter rights
organizations.
The SDMI Timeline
The SDMI Forum is expected to begin operations in early 1999. The
objective is to have a specification completed in time to allow
conforming products to be available for the 1999 holiday season.
NOTE: |
Todays
announcement was webcast on the Recording Industry Association
of Americas site: www.riaa.com/SDMI.
You can access an archived audio/video recording at this site. |
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