Streaming media group closes in on MPEG-4 copy protection

Daily Newsletters

Sign up to ZDNet UK's daily newsletter.

NEWS
Aiming to close a long-standing gap in digital rights management for MPEG-4, a streaming media consortium is seeking comments on an encryption specification scheduled for release in June. The Internet Streaming Media Alliance (ISMA), whose members include Apple Computer, AOL Time Warner, Cisco Systems, IBM and Sun Microsystems, said it would spend the next two months evaluating public review of the new digital rights management (DRM) specification. The proposed specification is a way of encrypting streaming media files that would be compatible with existing methods for key encryption and DRM. That would give content providers more flexibility in pursuing their commercial goals, the ISMA said. "In developing this specification, we spent a significant amount of time gathering feedback from major content owners," ISMA President Tom Jacobs said in a statement. "As a result, our specification does not bind them to utilise specific rights and key management systems or preselected solution vendors. This allows content owners to retain control over critical business processes and related decisions." MPEG-4, a standard for compressing audio and video files for delivery over the Internet and other networks, is the work of the Moving Picture Experts Group, which also designed MPEG-2 for digital television and MP3 for music files. ISMA compared its DRM specification to secure sockets layer (SSL) and HTTPS, specifications that provide security for documents sent over the Web. The new DRM specification builds on ISMA's own 1.0 specification and on the National Institute of Standards & Technology's (NIST) 128-megabit AES encryption standard. ISMA said that meant it was free of intellectual property constraints. One industry expert said ISMA's work would advance DRM technology for streaming media, but only incrementally. "I see it as another step toward more interoperability in DRM," said Rob Koenen, president of the MPEG-4 Industry Forum. "But that's a difficult problem to solve. There are many little steps to be taken on the road to more interoperable DRM and agreeing on encryption is only one of them." More thorny issues that awaited resolution included the establishment of a standard way of evaluating and managing "trust", or the degree to which a certain player or device that is downloading media is considered secure. That will require some kind of entity that certifies players and devices after a high degree of technical analysis, Koenen said. Ongoing work under the MPEG 21 banner is addressing some of these problems, including the establishment of an XML-based language for DRM rules. The ISMA invited "technical members of the security or content protection community" to apply for a review copy of the specification on the consortium's Web site.
See the Digital Rights News Section for the latest on copy protection, piracy, DVD recording and zoning. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.

Talkback

I want to check this mpeg 4 encoding and decoding system, Do you have any reps in mumbai, India.

via Facebook 26 September, 2003 08:15
Reply

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

  • Login

Will not be displayed with your comment

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

BrownieBoy

@Jack, > Works really well for thieves.... Nice attempt to deflect the argument by tossing in a point that's totally irrelevant, even it were...

6 hours ago by BrownieBoy on AMD Ultrathins to challenge Intel Ultrabooks
bootlegger

Make that 13 people now - I got refused today at Manchester airport. I thought I was up to date on this legislation - I knew of the EU ruling from...

9 hours ago by bootlegger on UK airport body scans will not be opt out
tinycg

Don't forget to check out apps like GoodReader or SlideShark either, they're indispensible for people on the go in presentation situations. Best...

11 hours ago by tinycg on Four top iPad apps for people on the move
TerryRK

Well it seems there is something a number of us agree on. Why is the Ubuntu Unity launcher so ugly? I thought perhaps it was something to do with...

16 hours ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Freebies202

Duplicate comments are not made intentionally. Its very good to know that now you are keeping check on this problem because sometimes a commenter...

1 day ago by Freebies202 on Microsoft fixes blog comments, speeds up blogs with open source
kevinmchapman

"the very significant number of users" and "many (most) of us" - you have no evidence for these statements. It is a fact that most users are saying...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Marg Menzies Harrison

Another grammar faux pas is the improper use of "you". When sitting down down in a restaurant, for example, I get cringe when the waitress...

1 day ago by Marg Menzies Harrison via Facebook on 10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid
zdnetukuser

And NOW, folks, for Canonical's next trick... Kubuntu is late. Here's a pencil. Draw your own conclusions. cf.:...

1 day ago by zdnetukuser on Linux Minterface
Moley

@kevinmchapman. The discussion here reflects the very significant number of users who really do like the traditional menu system and who wish to...

2 days ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
kevinmchapman

Er, no... It is an efficient means of finding the application/file/setting you need in one place. The icons are a simply a fallback for when you...

2 days ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
TerryRK

Isn't the provision of a text based search an admission by the developers that the mass of icons approach does not work? I don't need to use a...

2 days ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
kevinmchapman

"Unity and GNOME 3 both abandon the old text-based cascading menus in favour of a graphical icon-driven system." Point truly missed. Both use a...

2 days ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
TerryRK

whs001 - Thank you, I'm glad you liked the article. I absolutely agree with you on your first point. I should perhaps have made it clearer that...

2 days ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Dennis Nilsson

If we allow corporate interest to dictate the way our government circumvents due process against foreign entities then we should accept the same...

2 days ago by Dennis Nilsson via Facebook on ACTA stumbles in Germany
GHar123

I totally dislike pirating of works, I fear that artists will be deterred from creating works if they think that they are going to get ripped off....

2 days ago by GHar123 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
JCB33

How dare film makers, artists or anybody that invests in creativity stop us pirating their works for free. I want to be able to walk into my local...

2 days ago by JCB33 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
Moley

@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...

2 days ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
greycynic

The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel. The first bug that I found was applying the median...

2 days ago by greycynic on Ten flawed products that derail productivity
GrueMaster

Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...

2 days ago by GrueMaster on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Frederick Wrigley

I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...

2 days ago by Frederick Wrigley via Facebook on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint