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DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION
FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY /
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Applications:
TECH GROUP AIMS AT PROFIT-FRIENDLY
FILE-SHARING
The world's largest software and music companies, together with a broad
alliance of companies, said they would work together in a bid to transform
Internet file sharing from a haven for piracy into a potential profit
center.
Microsoft Corp and Universal Music, a unit of Vivendi Universal are members
of
the Content Reference Forum, formed in March to develop a universal way to
distribute digital content.
The group issued an initial set of technology specifications in a bid to
create a system in which users would share customized Internet links, called
"content references," instead of swapping song or film files directly.
Michael Miron, president of the Content Reference Forum, said the links
could
work on existing file-sharing networks, which are now frequently used for
illegal copying.
For example, if a user wanted a song in an MP3 format from a friend who has
it
in a different file format, the links would serve as a sort of middleman that
would help locate that specific content in the appropriate form.
Pricing for content could be set dynamically, based on demand for specific
files and file types, for example, or a company's decision to offer a
promotional rate to the first users to download a particular song or
video.
Even before Napster revolutionized the distribution of music in 1999 by
making
it easy for fans to swap music over the Internet, various companies have been
grappling with ideas for how to profit from such delivery.
The original Napster, which let people share unlimited numbers of music
files
for free, was shut down as a result of copyright infringement litigation in
2001.
Napster recently relaunched with a legal subscription and download format,
becoming one of several record industry-backed commercial online services like
Apple Computer Inc's iTunes, MusicNet, MusicNow and MusicMatch, and Rhapsody
that are seeking to lure customers away from free Napster-like sites.
But while these services are finding varying degrees of success, consumers
still cannot easily get the content they want, in the format and with other
preferences they choose, said Miron, who is also chief executive of digital
rights management firm ContentGuard Holdings Inc.
"The vision of the forum is for consumers to enjoy as well as redistribute
content with commercial terms beneficial to all members of the value chain,"
he said.
Other members of the forum are chipmaker ARM Holdings, digital security
company Macrovision Corp, Japanese telecommunications giant Nippon Telegraph
and Telephone and Web-commerce company VeriSign.
"We expect there may be additional interest from companies in joining the
group and in participating in writing the standards," said Miron.
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