Microsoft Takes Stake in Xerox E-Commerce Spinoff; ContentGuard Delivers Total Publishing, Rights Management Solution for eBooks, Digital Content on the Web |
Companies Collaborate to Offer Secure Internet Management and Distribution of Copyright Material, Greater Freedom for Publishers Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) joined forces to launch ContentGuard, Inc., a new Internet company that will deliver comprehensive software solutions to protect and manage books, documents, music, software and other valuable content distributed over the Web. The solutions give publishers and authors more control over their digital material, thus allowing them unprecedented freedom and innovation in delivering and marketing digital content to consumers. Rick Thoman, Xerox president and CEO, and Steve Ballmer, Microsoft president and CEO, announced Microsoft's investment in ContentGuard, a Xerox spinoff company. ContentGuard, Inc.'s technology, originally developed at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), is the foundation for various products and services to deliver secure, user-friendly solutions for protecting and distributing digital content over the Internet. These digital rights management (DRM) solutions are designed to allow content developers and publishers to establish and retain control over how their materials are used, copied and purchased. "This technology, supported by an extensive portfolio of Xerox patents, solves one of the most critical challenges facing Internet commerce: content protection. Our system offers a secure e-commerce environment for publishing and distributing any high-value or copyright material," Thoman said. "A key part of Microsoft's vision for enabling Web-based commerce is the creation of seamless and easy-to-use solutions for protecting the rights of the authors and publishers to provide consumers with digital content," said Ballmer. "By investing in ContentGuard and combining Xerox' innovations with Microsoft's DRM technology, we are taking a dramatic step toward realizing this goal. " Xerox will retain a majority stake in ContentGuard, Inc., formerly the Xerox Rights Management group. Microsoft will be a minority investor, and other investors are expected to be announced in the future. "As an independent entity, but drawing on the resources of Xerox and Microsoft, ContentGuard can better compete as an 'Internet company on Internet time' and raise capital and form partnerships as required," said Michael Miron, co-chairman and CEO, ContentGuard, Inc. ContentGuard, Inc., Microsoft and Xerox also will collaborate on future development of DRM technology and standards, including the establishment of XrML (eXtensible rights Markup Language) as a common standard for all forms of digital information and entertainment. XrML will be licensed royalty-free to the industry to enable interoperability across rights management systems. Microsoft will use ContentGuard's technology to extend future versions of Microsoft's DRM solutions. Microsoft Reader, a new software product for displaying eBooks, will be the first Microsoft product to incorporate the ContentGuard technology when it debuts this summer. ContentGuard technology will also enhance future releases of Windows Media Player and Windows Media Rights Manager. "Controlling intellectual property is a major problem facing companies who are moving their business to the Internet. While there have been a limited number of solutions available to address this issue, this is the first time that two major companies such as Xerox and Microsoft have partnered to bring digital rights management to the masses," said Alan Weintraub, research director, Gartner Group Inc. The ContentGuard portfolio includes the ContentGuard Internet content protection software suite and the electronic Publishing Clearing Service (ePCS) offered jointly with Reciprocal Inc. Today ContentGuard can protect and manage digital content such as market research, business reports, patent applications, books, sheet music and academic course packs. Plans are under way to enable DRM solutions for audio and video material. In addition, ContentGuard products and services enable publishers or authors to deploy materials over the Web in new ways; for example, to create free time-restricted previews, single-chapter previews or one-time use scenarios. "DRM is a prime example of a technology coming to market that will fundamentally change the way organizations and individuals use the Internet," said John R. Logan, chairman and co-founder, Aberdeen Group, Inc. "Recognizing this, we decided to adopt DRM to distribute content within our own business. We chose Reciprocal and ContentGuard's ePCS as it offered the most simple, flexible and cost-effective option to help us create new business models, reach a broader audience and significantly increase our profits." In addition to Miron, ContentGuard is led by Ranjit Singh, president and COO, and Dick Brass, co-chairman of ContentGuard and vice president of technology development, Microsoft. Customer Contacts: Source: Company press announcement |
