Lucent Technologies ePAC Music Coder Integrated Into Preview Systems Secure Internet Music Solution

Business Wire, Jan 24, 2000

Business Editors &High-Tech Writers

MIDDLETOWN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 24, 2000

Lucent Technologies (NYSE:LU) today announced that Preview Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:PRVW), a leading developer of Internet music distribution systems, has integrated the Lucent Enhanced Perceptual Audio Coder(TM) (ePAC(TM)) into its solution for secure electronic music delivery.

The combined solution enables music labels to encode their releases with ePAC, the highest-quality audio coder in the industry, and ensure secure distribution to Internet listeners. The Preview Systems proprietary solution incorporates the tamper-resistant Intel Software Integrity System(TM), which bundles ePAC for audio encoding applications.

Preview Systems is the recommended technology provider for EMI Recorded Music, one of the world's largest recorded music publishers.

&uot;The Preview Systems technology has been market-proven by some of the most experienced ears in the music industry. This solution ensures that artists' copyrights and audio fidelity are delivered intact to the consumer,&uot; said Joyce Eastman, director of audio initiatives for Lucent Technologies.

&uot;We are glad that ePAC has been chosen for the Preview Systems solution and look forward to making greater in-roads into the growing Internet music market.&uot;

&uot;Highly secure electronic content protection is required to offer the work of top, well-known artists for Internet music download. The highest sound quality is required to enjoy their music to the fullest extent,&uot; said Dr. Vincent Pluvinage, the CEO of Preview Systems.

&uot;Thanks to the exceptional technical expertise and credibility of Intel and Lucent, our digital goods e-commerce solution now incorporates technologies required for our customers to offer mainstream digital music for the enjoyment of many consumers.&uot;

Lucent's ePAC coder is interoperable with RealNetworks' G2 Player and has been licensed to e.Digital for its handheld Internet music device and to Lydstrom Inc. for its Songbank home Internet stereo device. The ePAC coder will also be integrated into VedaLabs' music hardware platforms.

ePAC is based on the Lucent Perceptual Audio Coder(TM) (PAC(TM)), the highest-quality digital audio codec in the industry.

ePAC is a new version of the Lucent PAC(TM) developed by Bell Labs, the research and development arm of Lucent Technologies. PAC is an audio compression algorithm with the highest-quality audio at the lowest bit rates. At 128 kilobits per second, ePAC offers CD-transparent stereo sound.

ePAC uses psychoacoustic modeling -- that is, a representation of how humans hear sound -- to compress music in a way that is not noticeable to the ear. Music is compressed at a rate of 11 to 1, thus reducing the transmission time/bandwidth and storage by the same ratio, while still retaining its fidelity.

Several recent improvements in ePAC have pushed its performance levels to new heights, including: ePAC's improved quantization and coding, allowing higher-quality audio at lower bit rates, and ePAC's improved psychoacoustic modeling from Bell Labs research, which provides CD-transparent sound at 128 kbps.

ePAC's variable bit rates and superior audio quality allow the coder to be used in multiple bandwidth applications.

Lucent Technologies' famed research and development arm, Bell Labs, has been at the forefront of technology for the music industry for decades, with the introduction of sound for motion pictures in 1926; the invention of stereo recording in 1933; the invention of the transistor in 1947; the introduction of computer-synthesized music in the 1950s; the introduction of psychoacoustics in the 1960s; sub-band coding of audio in the 1970s; the introduction of linear predictive coding in the 1980s; and the Perceptual Audio Coder in the 1990s.

Preview Systems' technology solutions enable global e-commerce networks for electronically distributing and licensing digital goods. Its systems provide an Internet-based infrastructure to connect publishers of software, music and other digital products simultaneously to any of their distribution channels.

Distribution rights, branding, licensing transactions and reports, worldwide electronic fulfillment to end-users and control of their usage rights are securely managed in real-time. Pluvinage began his career researching sound processing techniques at Bell Laboratories, the research and development arm for Lucent Technologies. Preview Systems is publicly traded on Nasdaq under the symbol &uot;PRVW.&uot;

Lucent Technologies, with headquarters in Murray Hill, N.J., designs, builds and delivers a wide range of public and private networks, communications systems and software, data networking systems, business telephone systems and microelectronic components. Bell Labs is the research and development arm for the company. For more information on Lucent Technologies, visit the company's Web site at www.lucent.com.

Note to Editors: All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

The statements contained in this release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements regarding Preview's expectations, beliefs, hopes, intentions or strategies regarding the future and in particular, growth of the digital content marketplace. All forward-looking statements included in this document are based upon information available to Preview as of the date hereof, and Preview assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statement. Actual results could differ materially from current expectations. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, technical difficulties, growth of electronic commerce for digital content and the factors and risks discussed in Preview's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.