Hollywood Studios Back New Digital Download Service

LAS VEGAS: The cross-industry consortium Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE)—backed by Hollywood studios such as Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony, Fox, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros.—has unveiled a new technology, dubbed UltraViolet, that paves the way for an open market for digital distribution. 

DECE has come up with a set of standards and specifications designed to make approved digital content playable on certified devices. UltraViolet will allow consumers to purchase digital content and watch it, any time, across multiple branded platforms, such as computers, connected TVs, game consoles, smartphones and tablets. Consumers will be able to register up to 12 devices so UltraViolet content can be shared between them. UltraViolet streaming access will enable consumers to view their collections via set-top boxes and the Internet. The UltraViolet Account will also enable retailers to provide consumers with a copy to use on DVD players or other physical media such as portable flash memory.

DECE expects the introduction of consumer UltraViolet offerings in mid-2011, with planned expansion to the U.K. and Canada. 

Among the 60-plus members of the consortium supporting the new service are Netflix, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Best Buy, British Sky Broadcasting, NBC Universal, Lionsgate, Fox Entertainment, Comcast, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Sony, Paramount Pictures and Samsung Electronics.

"Today’s announcement that UltraViolet is ready shows that the entertainment and technology communities have made good on their promise to give the world a new, user-friendly digital standard for collecting movies and TV shows in the digital age," said Mark Teitell, the general manager of DECE. "In the coming months, consumers will hear exciting news from DECE Member companies and other UltraViolet licensees about a host of interoperable products and services, ushering in a new era of choice, confidence and freedom in digital entertainment."