Iomega Announces New Support with Microsoft Windows Media Player 7 and Windows Media Rights Manager

Business Wire, July 19, 2000

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

ROY, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 19, 2000

Collaboration With Microsoft Provides

Integrated Digital Rights Management Support

For Zip(R), Clik!(TM) and Jaz(R) Portable Storage Disks

Iomega Corporation (NYSE:IOM), a global leader in data management solutions, has furthered its commitment to digital rights management (DRM) by announcing its products are compatible with Microsoft(R) Windows Media(TM) Player 7 that was released to consumers on July 17, and with Windows Media(TM) Rights Manager, Microsoft Corporation's digital rights management technology for audio and video.

Iomega disks for its Zip(R), Jaz(R) and Clik!(TM) removable storage products now provide a secure, portable solution for DRM-enabled content.

By working with Microsoft and other major DRM hardware and software vendors, Iomega's products can help ensure that secure content can be read, viewed, played or listened to by customers on a wide range of PCs and portable devices. Such collaborations demonstrate the company's commitment to DRM solutions for content owners and consumers alike.

"Because there have been few technologies in place to protect content from unauthorized distribution, piracy concerns have kept the vast majority of copyright material from being available in digital form," said Germaine Ward, vice president, software solutions, Iomega Corporation. "At Iomega we hope that our work with Microsoft's second generation DRM technology, as well as other major DRM vendors, will change that situation and allow easier access to digital, downloadable forms of copyrighted content such as books, videos and music, while protecting the rights of artists and publishers worldwide."

Microsoft Windows Media Player 7 using Windows Media Rights Manager technology brings digital content to mainstream consumers and breaks down ease of use barriers to digital music. As an all-in-one digital media player, consumers have one unified place on their PCs to enjoy a full range of digital media activities, including CD audio playback and downloaded audio and video - such as secure music and video files, jukebox capabilities for CD recording, media management, and Internet radio.

"Including support for Iomega's millions of customers inside Windows Media Player 7 really fulfills our goal of allowing consumers to easily take their secure music with them on a variety of devices and portable media," said Dave Fester, general manager, Digital Media Division, Microsoft. "Now users of Iomega Zip, Clik! or Jaz drives, who download the Windows Media Player 7, can get the benefits of the first all-in-one player for digital media and have the ability to securely store their music collections on Iomega storage drives with the click of a button."

Iomega customers who download Windows Media Player 7 can get this integrated support and easily transfer their music or other media to their Iomega drives. Iomega's Zip(R), Jaz(R) and Clik!(TM) disks are uniquely serialized, helping to protect copyrighted, confidential and other valuable data and information from unauthorized copying and distribution. Each disk's serial number is used as a component in the DRM encryption system. Iomega disks also work in a super distribution model; if secure content has been copied to another disk without a valid license, easy-to-use instructions are presented about how to obtain rights to access the file.

The projected growth of the electronic distribution of music, books and video makes DRM a very important and timely issue. For example Forrester Research, a leading independent Internet research firm, predicts that 22 percent of total media sales purchased online will be delivered digitally by 2004. Iomega is developing secure DRM options with key partners that can be used with portable devices such as laptop computers, portable/removable disk drives, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and portable digital media players, meeting the needs of today's active and mobile users.

About Iomega

Iomega Corporation (NYSE:IOM) manufactures and markets the award-winning Zip(R), Jaz(R) and Clik!(TM) drives and disks and markets the ZipCD(TM) CD-RW drives and discs. Iomega's products help people to save, share, manage and create important information such as spreadsheets, slides, Internet downloads, audio files and personal photographs, while protecting that content from viruses and hackers. Used in homes, businesses, government and educational facilities and by creative professionals everywhere, Iomega storage solutions are the enabling technologies preferred by millions. The Company can be reached at 1-800-MY-STUFF (800/697-8833), or on the Web at http://www.iomega.com.

Copyright(c)2000 Iomega Corporation. Iomega, Zip, Jaz, Clik! and ZipCD are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Iomega Corporation in the United Sates and/or other countries. Windows Media Player 7 is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Certain other product names, brand names and company names may be trademarks or designations of their respective owners.