Sony + Philips buy Intertrust - hang on to your DRM hats

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: "Charles Arthur, The Independent" <carthur () independent co uk>
Date: Wed, 13 Nov 2002 13:21:20 +0000
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Sony + Philips buy Intertrust - hang on to your DRM hats


See Nobuki Idei's comment at end. I think that they have a broken
Japanese-English dictionary . Whenever he says "exciting" the real context
is "restrictive". DVDs? He said: "Exciting." (Context is: Restrictive to
most.) Memory Stick? "Exciting." (Proprietary as hell and restricts
copying.) MiniDisc? "Exciting." (Won't let you make more than one digital
copy.)

Anyway, here's the announcement...
--begin PR fluff
AMSTERDAM/NEW YORK, November 13, 2002 --Fidelio Acquisition Company, LLC, a
company formed by Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Sony
Corporation (NYSE:SNE), Royal Philips Electronics (AEX: PHI, NYSE: PHG) and
certain other investors, has executed a definitive agreement to acquire
InterTrust Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: ITRU)....

InterTrust is a leading holder of intellectual property in DRM. The company
holds 26 U.S. patents and has approximately 85 patent applications pending
worldwide. InterTrustís patent portfolio covers software and hardware
technologies that can be implemented in a broad range of products that use
DRM, including digital media platforms, web services and enterprise
infrastructure.
...
"Throughout Sony on a global scale, we operate with a keen awareness that
the future growth of the consumer electronics, computer and entertainment
industries will be heavily influenced by the ability to transmit digital
content in a secure environment," said Nobuyuki Idei, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Sony Corporation. "This acquisition will significantly
accelerate the ability to ensure secure delivery of digital content. This
in turn will enable the development of many exciting new services for
consumers and businesses."
--snip..

        best
        Charles

 -------------------------------------------------------------------
The Independent newspaper on the Web: http://www.independent.co.uk/
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