Microsoft Approved INKA's Proprietary DRM As A WMDRM Export Technology
Name
netadmin
Date
2010-02-12
Count
238
Tech News
INKA Entworks (www.netsync.co.kr) a digital rights management solution company focused on DRM interoperability between domains, today announced that its proprietary DRM has been approved by Microsoft as an authorized Windows Media DRM ("WMDRM") export technology which enables WMDRM transcryption into other DRM formats such as OMA and Marlin via INKA's technology.
INKA's proprietary DRM and its DRM Adaptor, DRM interoperability technology, has dominated the Korean market since 2003. It allows interoperability between 8 Korean proprietary DRMs through INKA's proprietary DRM. Currently 90% of music and video service providers in Korea and more than 70% of mp3 and PMP devices are utilizing DRM Adaptor.
With INKA technology, service providers who provide content protected with WMDRM are able to specify that the content may be exported to INKA's proprietary DRM and facilitate the export by providing client based DRM Adaptor application for end user's PCs.
Consumers have long complained about the lack of compatibility between different portable devices and paid audio and video content. For instance, the DRM system used by Apple's iPod does not enable play back of other content protected by other DRM systems such as WMDRM. Similarly, DRM-protected content originating from iTunes cannot be played on devices other than the iPod.
This lack of DRM interoperability has caused the music market to move towards DRM-free content. DRM is required for subscription based music rental models and major Hollywood studios are working on addressing the DRM compatibility issues between content and devices, in order to enable successful subscription based rental models in the video market and avoid the interoperability problems that have plagued the music market.
INKA's DRM Adaptor addresses this issue with PC based sync technology which enables service providers to export WMDRM encrypted content to INKA's proprietary DRM, which in turn allows further export to devices that support OMA and Marlin.
"INKA's DRM interoperability technology will offer an expanded eco-system to the digital industry which includes music, movie (video) and portable devices" said James Ahn, CEO of INKA Entworks. "We're pursuing OMA, WMDRM, iPod and Marlin DRM interoperability which has been requested by the industry and end users. We expect this expanded eco-system will enable industry growth with end customer's satisfaction"
INKA technology supplies practical and ideal solutions for service providers, device manufacturers and end users since its transcryption based method allows interoperability without modifying DRMs in the devices and contents back end systems. While transferring content to the device through the DRM Adaptor client, it performs both audio/video codec and DRM translation. All the rights mapping information is securely managed and stored by the content service providers' system.
