AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS — Porto Media announced in a news release that it will work with IBM to develop Porto Media's new digital content distribution infrastructure and then operate it as a managed service.
Porto Media has developed a high-speed flash memory module capable of downloading and storing a 120-minute, DVD-quality movie in just 18 seconds. To protect such content from unlawful copying, duplication or dissemination, Porto Media worked closely with IBM Research to develop extensions to Copy Protection for Recordable Media (CPRM) encryption, the standard developed by the 4C consortium comprising IBM, Intel, Matsushita and Toshiba.
CPRM Specification, SD Memory Card Book, SD-Video Part, Revision 0.94, was published by 4C on June 20th 2005. Porto Media's new content distribution model, which will undergo a large-scale pilot during 2006, will be the first commercial implementation of the CPRM for SD Video standard.
The new extensions to the CPRM for SD Video specification enable a variety of rules to be applied to the use and playback of content, such as:
- content will only play on the download device for a set period (rental)
- content will only play on the download device a predetermined number of times (rental, variant)
- content may be transferred to one other 4C-compliant device — eg. a DVD-RAM device — from which it may be played an unlimited number of times, but never copied again (purchase)
The "business rules" capability enabled by the CPRM extensions, combined with Porto Media's ability to download gigabytes of content onto flash memory devices in a matter of seconds, enables an entirely new model for content distribution.
Rich media content will be distributed via a network of IBM-managed media kiosks, from which content will be downloaded onto an inserted Porto Media flash memory card.
Movie content is replayed on a variety of CPRM-compliant devices including portable media players and Smartphones. In addition a CPRM-compliant adapter is provided to allow playback on a standard TV.
"Until now, content protection and the bandwidth bottleneck have been the primary inhibitors to making premium content available in digital form," explained Timothy O'Brien, chief executive officer of Porto Media. "This capability represents the next big advancement because it bridges both home and portable viewing experiences in a single solution. It resolves the issues of download speed, content protection and genuine portability for movie content at DVD-quality."
