Forget all that noise about 3D and bigger Blu-ray discs! The entertainment industry has just jumped into the digital age with both feet, announcing a digital content locker that blurs the lines that separate different CE makers, content producers, retailers and DRM addicts.
Under the brand UltraViolet, the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) will develop a content locker that will initially store and play movies and TV shows users purchase on a variety of devices.
Led by Sony, DECE includes major studios, retailers, pay-TV operators, hardware manufacturers and rental services. Initially it will provide users digital access to content they purchase a physical copy of. The goal is to have, finally, one format for content. A user buys it and it works, bottom line, just like DVDs.
Films are the big goal, as can be seen by looking at the members. However, DECE’s technology was also designed to store music, books and games, and could eventually serve as a way for consumers to upload Blu-ray movies they already own. Streaming-only and subscription content are also supported by the technology, but initially won’t be available.
Mitch Singer, DECE president and CTO at Sony Pictures Entertainment, has been touting the potential abilities and benefits of the DECE’s locker for more than two years. It looks as if the service will be going exactly where Singer wants it to.
“Our goal is to firmly establish UltraViolet as the symbol for digital entertainment – one that gives consumers the freedom of access wherever they are, the confidence of knowing how it will work and the most choice of content, stores and devices,” said Singer at the announcement.
Singer said at the beginning of the year that consumers are waiting on a technology that simplifies the process of playing their purchased content on all their devices and that the inability to do that has held back the growth of the download video market.
Singer blamed the consumer confusion caused by multiple proprietary standards, no doubt including Apple’s Fair Play DRM, for limiting the market. He pointed out that a movie purchased from one online video service might play on only one brand of smartphone. DECE is “optimal for collaboration” because it “standardizes video content” and removes file-structure barriers, Singer said during a panel at this year’s CES.
Digital movie purchases account for only 4% of total film purchases in the US. DECE will develop a product out of the “DECE Coordinator” that is the authentication service that authorizes delivery, but the company doesn’t want that to send out content. It will likely develop a unified platform for users to visit and either select content or service from that single location. DECE will operate on a cost-recovery basis and is not seeking to generate profits from the retail transactions.
The problem with the idea of a virtual content library for films is that not everything is ready yet and it’s a bit of a first for consumers. UltraViolet could be a much trickier sell than Blu-ray, given the fact that it won’t represent anything physical at all. UltraViolet merely denotes access, not ownership.
For this reason, smart money is on the DECE initially pushing the service as an added benefit to existing purchases, most likely physical purchases.
Users would get a quasi-ownership status over the content, having access to digital versions that can be downloaded, streamed and played across various CE they own. Pairing this means that a user can buy a film on Blu-ray but then also watch it for free via Comcast VOD, Netflix, Sonic Solution’s streaming platforms or through an app on a Web-enabled TV from Sony, LG or others.
The group also promised support on game consoles, mobile devices, laptops and PCs. The number of Web-enabled devices that will be able to access such content will grow to 780 million units by 2014 from more than 350 million this year, according to Parks Associates. That’s a lot of ground to cover.
Singer said the service’s slogan is “Buy Once, Play Anywhere.”
Thomas Gewecke, president of Warner Brothers Digital Distribution said “Making interoperability possible meets a key consumer need and fundamentally improves the digital video experience. With UltraViolet, consumers will be able to purchase a title once and enjoy it anywhere and anytime they wish.”
As the service gets more prominent and users begin to recognize its abilities, the DECE will likely slowly push up the prices of content that comes with a digital license, allowing users to buy access for another one or two dollars.
The goal isn’t to replace physical media anytime soon, as Singer said, “I don’t think physical media is over for a long, long time.” Sony was the lead developer for CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray.
The eventual step will be to allow users to rent content through the DECE service, giving access to content from a variety of sources on a single platform that can be distributed to a variety of devices. Having one unified platform means having one destination for the user to seek out content, one account to use to access all of this content and one bill at the end of the month.
The UltraViolet name and associated logo will begin appearing on various CE packaging and Web sites over the next several months, according to the initiative.
The goal is to get the name out there and familiar, despite the locker not launching until “later this year” – no official date was given. DECE wants the name out so consumers start asking questions when they go to Web sites or stores from retail partners like Best Buy.
The name will serve as the free online account where consumers access and manage entertainment they’ve purchased. The Web site will display the digital rights locker and films from every retailer that supports UltraViolet and DECE’s single file format.
One big issue for all of this is a broadband connection. Without that, virtually everything the DECE is talking about just won’t matter. That’s where members like Comcast and Cox are expected to come into play. Pairing the UltraViolet offerings with some sort of cable package will help get the word out about the service and provide a big encouragement to users that can actually take advantage of the service.
Mark Coblitz, senior VP at Comcast, said his company has not decided how it might develop a business using digital locker access. Comcast could sell UltraViolet-enabled movies through its Fancast and Xfinity video platforms, or deliver movies that customers have purchased elsewhere via its STBs. Either method will involve complex cost and revenue sharing.
Coblitz said that despite all the potential hurdles and hoops, giving customers a way to access their movie libraries anywhere could make a Comcast cable subscription more worthwhile: “It really adds a lot of value to being a customer of Comcast.”
The retail aspect of such a service is a bit daunting if it fleshes out the way the DECE has presented. There is a strong backing for physical content at the beginning, but not as the service progresses. Originally, physical purchases will be linked with lockers, likely through a code provided at purchase or inside the packaging.
Singer said that he eventually wants this to happen directly at checkout. If a user is at a retail store that’s an UltraViolet partner, a user should eventually be able to provide the cashier with an account number or access code and by the time the user gets home the content will also be available in his UltraViolet locker.
Linking content with physical purchases may initially cause some ire.
Users trade content to video stores, share it among friends, sell at yard sales or trade. At this point, it’s hard to trace who has full ownership rights and who should have full digital access. When you buy a niece or nephew a film, can you give the code as a gift as well? If you keep the code, is that fair use?
Building access into the original purchase price will mean that the first owner should keep it, but that could be challenged or become a problem when the purchaser has no intent of keeping the content in their family. DECE would also need a secure system in place to keep users from also sharing this code.
This brings up another major problem with such access. DECE touts that the service will work across an entire family and, according to its Web site, “that includes families when they’re apart. Whether away at college in another city or just sleeping over at a friend’s house, with access to the UltraViolet Account, it will be as if everyone is still under one roof.”
What happens if you, I and every other reader decide to get together and unify our purchases under a single Ultraviolet account? Everyone purchases a piece of content to get access to the locker and then has access to a lot more than they ever paid for.
This isn’t a big worry for those in the industry and those whose jobs depend on intellectual property rights, but imagine the mindset of an entire college dorm getting together for this.
DECE has 58 members, covering most major entertainment suppliers and device manufacturers but with two major UltraViolet holdouts: Apple and Disney.
Apple already uses its own FairPlay DRM for movies and TV shows sold through iTunes, allowing access on up to five devices. It has a large presence in the digital space and likely is staying away to keep as much of its market share as possible.
Disney is said to still be working on KeyChest, its own digital vault solution. Instead of seeking out partners first, Disney said it will develop the platform and file formats for KeyChest, run a full test and then seek out cohorts. Steve Jobs is a director of Disney and its largest shareholder.
Disney said KeyChest should be available before the end of the year.
If UltraViolet proves to be a success with consumers, Apple might be forced to join the alliance, or Disney may end up bringing its knowledge and implementation practice to the service.
Until recently, digital entertainment has been distributed through a wide variety of formats, creating headaches for hardware makers and consumers just trying to figure out how to manage and play the files.
The main goal of the DECE is a single file format that will reduce costs for all of its members, provided the DRM is strong enough to withstand basic attacks and that the service proves simple enough that users find it easier to work with the system instead of work around it.
According to the DECE, its members have all found that having multiple file formats actually keeps consumers from purchasing more online content. “Digital distribution was broken,” Singer said. “People weren’t buying as much anymore. We said, ‘What would it look like if we started from scratch?'”
The DECE has a lot of promise since devices that connect to the Web are becoming more prevalent and devices that connect the TV to the Web are growing just as quickly. As broadband penetration rates continue to rise, all the peripherals seem to be in place.
Now the user must sit back and wait to see if the new ecosystem truly facilitates getting their content where they want it whenever they want it, or if it simply adds delays and further headaches to the process of watching a movie in order to relax. To be successful, UltraViolet’s biggest challenge will be whether or not it’s easy to use from the couch.