UltraViolet, the industry consortium developing a system for secure digital content distribution, announced plans to launch its first user accounts in mid-2011. Developed by the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem, UltraViolet aims to provide consumers with a single user account to access digital video easily across a range of devices, at home or on the move. Consumers will be able to link up to 12 devices, including TVs, phones and PCs, to the account, in order to download, stream and view UltravIolet content such as TV, films and other entertainment. The UltraViolet account also will enable retailers to provide consumers with a copy to use on DVD players or other physical media, such as portable flash memory.
DECE has released an evaluation suite of technical specifications for the UltraViolet ecosystem. These include the DECE Common File Format, which encodes and encrypts video files just once while supporting multiple compliant DRMs, and the Technical Design Specifications for various industry participants, including content providers, retailers, streaming services, device and application providers and digital distribution infrastructure providers. DECE’s UltraViolet licensing program will allow companies to use the technical specifications, interact with the UltraViolet Account infrastructure via a suite of APIs and use the UltraViolet logo for marketing of content and devices. The UltraViolet Account system infrastructure developed by Neustar is now operational, and the first user accounts should launch by mid-year in the US and later in the year in the UK and Canada.
The system is expected to start with the launch of compatible digital copies for Blu-ray Disc and DVD title purchases, allowing streaming and downloading with an UltraViolet account. Later in 2011, UltraViolet-optimized media player apps will begin to roll out via software updates to PCs, game consoles and smart mobile devices, and in early 2012, the first designed-for-UltraViolet consumer electronics devices are expected to come on the market.
DECE includes over 60 major industry players across entertainment, consumer electronics, software, retail and infrastructure. Recent new members include Akamai, Arxan, BSkyB, Dell, Fanhattan, Fujitsu and QuickPlay Media. The UltraViolet website has been updated to include information for consumers on the new service.
