[opendtv] Re: Content Distribution Getting Cloudy (DECE UltraViolet)
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2010 18:12:47 -0500
Jeroen Stessen posted:
FYI: http://displaydaily.com/2010/09/20/content-distribution-getting-cloudy/
by Aldo Cugnini, Insight Media Consultant.
" the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem, or DECE, (...) has proposed a
cloud-based digital rights management system called "UltraViolet" "
" The promise of the system is to make all content available anywhere, albeit
in a controlled (i.e. pirate-free) environment. "
" disruptive startups like iviTV are threatening to bypass terrestrial local TV
broadcasters as well "
" we're surely going through a transition where the notion of TV channels is
quickly becoming antiquated "
But perhaps the most important point made in the article is this one:
"But, while DECE boasts support from nearly 60 entertainment and consumer
companies, it's notable that the consortium does not include Apple or Disney,
two companies linked in the sense that Apple CEO Steve Jobs, is Disney's
largest shareholder. This firmly shores up DECE as a competitive force against
the Apple i-Store behemoth, a sure sign that content owners are starting to
balk at the Apple-dominated view of content distribution."
Point the first. Ultraviolet seems to be trying to thwart the trend to multiple
on-line "TV services," such as Netflix, Hulu updated with conditional access,
or the Apple TV scheme, or the new Comcast-over-Internet scheme, replacing
these with yet another scheme which would theoretically be universal.
But we've seen this attempted before. For whatever reasons, these ideas seem to
work best in Europe and maybe Australia, and not work at all in the US. You
know, like GSM phones and DVB-T/C/S. Even if someone attempts to recreate an
equivalent of DVB-T/C/S here, e.g. with Tru2way (or whatever it was called),
special interests are very adept at squashing the effort, one way or another.
Point the second. As to "the notion of TV channels is quickly becoming
antiquated," I keep hearing that phrase being repeated, even as "the notion of
TV channels" has been changing for quite some time. At least 30+ years, since
the advent of cable.
What started with cable and is just progressing along the same line, are TV
distribution media. Channels are now either over the top Internet services like
Netflix, Hulu, or Apple TV, or cable/DBS, or OTA multiplexes. In each case, the
"TV channel" can carry content from multiple sources. The days when the ABC
frequency channel only carried ABC shows are very long gone.
Bert
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