Japanese TV Portal Service and TV Trials to use Marlin Technology

Japanese TV Portal Service and TV Trials to use Marlin Technology

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of the Marlin Developer Community today announced the use of Marlin Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology by a TV project trial lead by a Japanese government agency and an associated nationwide TV portal service.

Five major consumer electronics companies -- Hitachi, Panasonic, Sharp, Sony and Toshiba -- announced at the CEATEC Japan 2006 consumer electronics show, a proof of concept trial for TV portal services using Marlin IPTV-ES as the content protection system for video distribution. This trial is conducted by the Japanese Ministry of Economy and Trade Industry (METI) to investigate platform businesses with networked consumer electronics.

Prior to this announcement, a newly formed TV Portal Service Corporation, established to provide a nationwide portal service for video streaming and download, announced that it would use the Marlin IPTV-ES specification as the DRM system.

"It's great to see that within five months of the formation of the Marlin Developer Community, adopters are moving quickly to build Marlin into their products and services," said Scott Smyers, co-chairman of the Marlin Developer Community. "IPTV is an exciting growth area and we are pleased that Marlin technology is part of such a project."

Marlin technology provides content protection, distribution and sharing capabilities for devices and services. Marlin-based devices and services allow flexible sharing of content both in a consumer's home networking environment, and in situations where a consumer wishes to share content across networks. The heart of Marlin is a software engine that manages the relationships among consumers, their devices and their content. Marlin enables multiple service providers of IPTV, Broadband, traditional Broadcast, and Mobile to deliver services to a given home network in a manner that is responsive to typical business models and sensitive to consumer behaviors. Marlin IPTV-ES is the first of several specifications that provide Marlin functionality for IPTV systems. Information on joining Marlin may be found at: http://www.marlin-community.com/join.

In response to the overwhelming interest in the Marlin introductory seminars offered this summer, the Marlin Developer Community will hold additional seminars in Asia, Europe and the United States later this year. The seminars will present the Marlin architecture and value proposition to all parties seeking to learn more about Marlin technology. Times and locations of the developer seminars are being finalized and will be available at http://www.marlin-community.com/developers/events.

About Marlin and the Marlin Developer Community

In January 2005, the five Marlin founders -- Intertrust Technologies, Matsushita Electric (Panasonic), Royal Philips Electronics, Samsung Electronics, and Sony Corporation -- formed a joint development association to develop Marlin technology. The group's goal was to develop the specifications to a point of maturity, and to create an open developer community to drive their adoption in the market. In October 2005, the joint development association announced the creation of the Marlin Developer Community, an organization whose goal is to accelerate the development and commercial deployment of Marlin, and in May 2006 Marlin's founders released technology specifications. The MDC invites interested developers and adopters to participate in the review, testing and further development of specifications, reference technologies, tools, technical documentation and Software Developer Kits (SDKs).

In addition, the Marlin founders have created a second entity called the Marlin Trust Management Organization (MTMO). The MTMO provides trust management services, such as certification and key management for commercial purposes, and enforces the appropriate use and security requirements of Marlin technology. The MTMO will be operational by the end of 2006. For more information about Marlin, please visit http://www.marlin-community.com/

Media Contacts
Robin Buckley (703) 533-9805; robin@buckleykaldenbach.com
Isabel Kaldenbach (703) 979-3076; isabel@buckleykaldenbach.com

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Marlin Developer Community

CONTACT: Robin Buckley, +1-703-533-9805, robin@buckleykaldenbach.com, or
Isabel Kaldenbach, +1-703-979-3076, isabel@buckleykaldenbach.com, both for
Marlin Developer Community

Web site: http://www.marlin-community.com/

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