Macrovision Corporation, the leading developer
and supplier of copy protection, electronic licensing and digital rights
management ('DRM") technologies, announced that it has been awarded Japanese
Patent #3,405,980 for a method of copy protecting CD content.
The patent relates to technology used to prevent a PC from recognizing the
Red Book audio content when a protected music CD is placed in a PC. More
particularly, the patent teaches the manipulation of control data including
Table of Contents (TOC) related data to essentially 'hide" Red Book audio from
the PC. When Red Book audio is 'hidden" from the PC, the PC is unable to make
audio copies.
'This patent protects an important aspect of our dual session technologies.
Effective Red Book hiding is a critical component in CD copy protection," said
Bill Krepick, Macrovision's president and CEO. 'Together with our SafeDisc® and
SafeAuthenticate™ technologies, this new patent is the basis for our industry
leading CDS™ product line which has already been used on over 100 million CDs to
counter the threat that ubiquitous CD-recordable drives pose to the music
business."
Coupled with second session technologies such as the Windows Media® DRM,
Macrovision's CDS solution utilizes this patent and enables worldwide record
labels to design and produce 'dual session" music CDs that contain both Red Book
audio files that play on traditional home and car stereos, and also include
'second session" files that can be played and stored on a consumer's PC and
portable devices. Macrovision recently announced a License Agreement for
Distribution of the Microsoft® Windows Media® Data Session Toolkit which will
facilitate Worldwide Deployment of Secure Music CDs that include both the
Macrovision CDS-300 features and the Windows Media DRM.
Masao Kumei, Macrovision's managing director for Japan and Asia KK added,
'The Red Book patent augments our portfolio of copy protection technology
patents, enabling us to offer critical solutions for the music and software
industries. Japan has been out in front of the world in adopting music CD copy
protection, and this patent is an important validation of Macrovision's leading
position in that market."
Macrovision's integrated copy control and DRM solutions for music content are
designed to protect the music labels' content while, at the same time, enabling
consumers to enjoy a broad entertainment experience on a variety of consumer CD
devices and PCs.
For the past 15 years, Macrovision has been the trusted partner in copy
protection and rights management for the entertainment industry. Macrovision has
worked in partnership with the leading content companies worldwide to develop
and deploy technologies that serve the interests of both rights holders and
consumers, delivering solutions which provide an optimum balance between
effectiveness and playability. Macrovision's copy protection and rights
management technologies have been utilized on over 5 billion CDs, DVDs and VHS
cassettes.
Source: Macrovision
