In an effort to address the copyright infringement issues that accompany the latest online music technology, IBM Corp. and Sony Corp. this week announced they will collaborate on copyright management technologies for digital music content.
Sony, in addition to its high-tech divisions, is also a top music industry player. The company will work with IBM to make Sony’s MagicGate and OpenMG copyright protection technologies interoperable with IBM’s Electronic Music Management System (EMMS), an e-business solution for the sale and downloading of music.
IBM made a similar deal earlier in the week with Real Networks to integrate Real’s technology into EMMS.
Under terms of the agreement, OpenMG-compliant personal computers and MagicGate-compliant audio player/recorders will be formatted to receive content purchased and downloaded over the Internet using EMMS. Using security features, the downloaded music content can be recorded, played back and copied in a manner consistent with the copy control settings selected by the content provider.
The goal of the alliance is to enable artists and content providers to take advantage of the digital music industry’s enormous growth potential while protecting the interests of rights holders, the firms said.
“Our work with Sony, the world leader in consumer electronics products, will help both companies better serve their music industry customers and create new opportunities to benefit from e-business,” said Richard K. Selvage, general manager, IBM Global Media and Entertainment Industry.
IBM’s stake in the online music industry has grown in the past week. The company, along with Sony and others, has signed on to participate in the Secure Digital Music Initiative, which was created to facilitate the cooperation between the music and technology industries. IBM also this week announced a partnership with Real Networks to create a music player that rivals the popular MP3 and recently released Microsoft Audio player.
