A huge consortium of media and technology companies have announced the launch of UltraViolet. By acting as a “digital movie locker,” UltraViolet wants to help customers see a movie they have purchased on multiple devices. A Disney-backed competitor is already on the horizon, despite the large list of supporters for UltraViolet.
Cloud based upon computing with UltraViolet
You will find a large number of big media companies within the UltraViolet consortium. An account at UltraViolet’s site, uvvu.com, will track all media purchases. Customers will then be able to use this “digital token” that will allow them to play the film on a wide variety of devices and services. You can watch a movie that you purchased at Best Buy with your Comcast account. Buy a Blu-ray DVD, then play the film on your smartphone. The goal is ultimate cross-compatibility with minimal hassle.
The challenges of UltraViolet
Though UltraViolet has a huge list of supporting companies, a format war is already shaping up. Disney is developing their own digital rights management system codenamed KeyChest. With a huge movie library that contains Marvel Entertainment and Pixar studios, Disney controls a large number of movies. The Walt Disney Business has Steve Jobs as a board member. Apple did not sign onto the UltraViolet system, and Apple’s iOS technology may not allow app developers to use their system.
Will the Digital Management System?
If we are to use the example of previous format wars, there could be a couple of years where both systems exist. In the end, the format the pornography industry chooses can be the one most likely to win as in each other format war. However, the music industry has long tried to create comparable digital rights management systems, most of which have failed rather spectacularly because of lack of corporate support and customer backlash. It will take a lot to win customer support for either KeyChest or UltraViolet – but it could have to do with the library, the support, and the user interface.
