Qflix-Ready Products Define New Entertainment Sell-through Businesses; Enable Companies to Apply Approved CSS-Recordable Format
Full Text http://www.sonic.com/about/press/news/2007/09/qflix.aspx?source=mtblog
Movie DVDs Sold At Kiosks Get a Boost
By SARAH MCBRIDE for the Wall Street Journal
September 27, 2007; Page B4
A change in copy-protection rules governing DVDs is likely to quickly unlock a new market for selling movie discs via kiosks, where digital copies can be burned onto blank DVDs on the spot. Retailers have been hoping to roll out such operations, giving instant access to thousands of movie titles that otherwise might be impractical to stock. But such plans have been tripped up by restrictive copy-protection guidelines. Some "on demand" burning is currently available, but it mostly involves independent titles.
Now, an organization called the DVD Copy Control Association -- a consortium including movie studios and hardware makers that oversees the copy protection system known as Content Scramble System, or CSS -- says it will allow its technology to be licensed more broadly. That opens the doors for DVD-burning kiosks.
One of the earliest licensing programs will come from Sonic Solutions Inc., of Novato, Calif., which is offering a copy-protection program called Qflix designed for burn-to-order DVDs. They are working to license it to DVD kiosk makers such as Polar Frog Digital LLC, which makes MediaIgloo kiosks. MediaIgloo in turn hopes to make deals with the major studios to acquire rights to their films. Retailers including Walgreens already have plans to install in-store movie kiosks.
Having the big-studio content should help drive traffic to the kiosks, says Jim Taylor, senior vice president and general manager of Sonic's advanced technology group. "You need more compelling, topical studio content to get eyeballs there in the first place," he says.
For studios, embracing the kiosks allows them to tap into their back catalog without having to produce and physically store DVDs.
"We've been pushing for years for people to be able to burn legitimate DVDs," says Michael Arrieta, executive vice president for digital distribution and mobile entertainment at Sony Corp.'s Sony Pictures. He adds that the company has about 500 movies already formatted for digital distribution, with new releases added as they come out on DVD and about 10 movies a month added from the catalog.
Similarly, at Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros., a spokesman says the company supports the instant-DVD technology.
Stores, meanwhile, are eager to considerably broaden the movie titles they offer without taking up valuable shelf space.
The copy-protection technology will also work with at-home downloads, albeit only on designated blank discs and disc drives. While some studios had been experimenting with allowing consumers to burn DVD copies of movies they bought online, most played only on the computer; they didn't work in most DVD players because the movies come with a different type of copyright protection.
The studios' insistence on CSS protections might seem fruitless since the software was cracked by hackers years ago; programs to circumvent it are widely available on the Internet. But Sonic says it's an important first line of defense "from casual disc copying."
Novato, CA (September 27, 2007) — Sonic Solutions® (NASDAQ: SNIC), announced today its technologies and intellectual property are behind a range of products being introduced to establish new businesses for the digital distribution of video entertainment that can be burned on demand to protected discs. Sonic’s DVD On Demand™ software platform and Qflix™ recordable CSS program - based on the recently approved industry specifications for recording electronic downloads set by the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA) - are being used in new products from DVD media makers, optical drive manufacturers, retail kiosk vendors, and duplication system suppliers. These products, combined with services and solutions being delivered by additional Sonic partners in the consumer electronics, entertainment distribution, and PC industries provide content owners new, secure platforms to digitally distribute their broad entertainment catalogs.
Full Text http://www.sonic.com/about/press/news/2007/09/qflix.aspx?source=mtblog
Movie DVDs Sold At Kiosks Get a Boost
By SARAH MCBRIDE for the Wall Street Journal
September 27, 2007; Page B4
A change in copy-protection rules governing DVDs is likely to quickly unlock a new market for selling movie discs via kiosks, where digital copies can be burned onto blank DVDs on the spot. Retailers have been hoping to roll out such operations, giving instant access to thousands of movie titles that otherwise might be impractical to stock. But such plans have been tripped up by restrictive copy-protection guidelines. Some "on demand" burning is currently available, but it mostly involves independent titles.
Now, an organization called the DVD Copy Control Association -- a consortium including movie studios and hardware makers that oversees the copy protection system known as Content Scramble System, or CSS -- says it will allow its technology to be licensed more broadly. That opens the doors for DVD-burning kiosks.
One of the earliest licensing programs will come from Sonic Solutions Inc., of Novato, Calif., which is offering a copy-protection program called Qflix designed for burn-to-order DVDs. They are working to license it to DVD kiosk makers such as Polar Frog Digital LLC, which makes MediaIgloo kiosks. MediaIgloo in turn hopes to make deals with the major studios to acquire rights to their films. Retailers including Walgreens already have plans to install in-store movie kiosks.
Having the big-studio content should help drive traffic to the kiosks, says Jim Taylor, senior vice president and general manager of Sonic's advanced technology group. "You need more compelling, topical studio content to get eyeballs there in the first place," he says.
For studios, embracing the kiosks allows them to tap into their back catalog without having to produce and physically store DVDs.
"We've been pushing for years for people to be able to burn legitimate DVDs," says Michael Arrieta, executive vice president for digital distribution and mobile entertainment at Sony Corp.'s Sony Pictures. He adds that the company has about 500 movies already formatted for digital distribution, with new releases added as they come out on DVD and about 10 movies a month added from the catalog.
Similarly, at Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros., a spokesman says the company supports the instant-DVD technology.
Stores, meanwhile, are eager to considerably broaden the movie titles they offer without taking up valuable shelf space.
The copy-protection technology will also work with at-home downloads, albeit only on designated blank discs and disc drives. While some studios had been experimenting with allowing consumers to burn DVD copies of movies they bought online, most played only on the computer; they didn't work in most DVD players because the movies come with a different type of copyright protection.
The studios' insistence on CSS protections might seem fruitless since the software was cracked by hackers years ago; programs to circumvent it are widely available on the Internet. But Sonic says it's an important first line of defense "from casual disc copying."
Tags: DVD-on-demand , Qflix