Storage: Iomega Announces Record/Play Technology Initiative. Iomega, Liquid Audio and SoundStone Join to Move Storage from Passive to Active Giving Content Providers and Consumers Control, Privacy and Protection - Company Business and Marketing

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, Nov 23, 1998

Iomega Corporation Monday announced Record/Play a broad technology initiative designed to provide a secure channel for the distribution of content and intellectual property over the Internet. The Record/Play initiative will allow developers to use the IomegaReady Toolkit to develop applications capable of delivering intellectual property securely from the Internet to Iomega media.

Using Record/Play, developers will be able to encrypt music, content or data to Iomega storage products using a copy protection technique that will bind the content to the disk. The content can then be replayed only from the disk to which it was recorded. Any attempt to reproduce the recorded content will not be readable from another disk. Additional technological innovations that are designed to improve and extend this initiative will be announced over the next several months.

Iomega's Record/Play is designed to provide leading Internet and entertainment companies a secure channel for all copyright-protected Internet content -- such as music, video, research, software, audio books, webcasts and games. The technology initiative has the potential to cross Iomega's Zip, Jaz and the upcoming Clik! product lines.

To kick-off Iomega's Record/Play initiative, Iomega has signed a non-binding letter of intent with internet leaders Liquid Audio, the leading developer of secure online music and audio delivery systems, and SoundStone.com, a leading online music retailer. The companies jointly announced Monday Tunus Collectus, an Internet music-of-the-month club. Tunus Collectus is designed to allow customers to go to the SoundStone.com web site for a monthly download of music singles and is expected to be available early next year. Liquid Audio and SoundStone.com are the first developer and retailer/content provider, respectively, to recognize the potential of Iomega's Record/Play technology initiative. Tunus Collectus will use the Liquid Music Player and a Record-to-Zip download button to allow users to download the singles from SoundStone.com's web site to a Zip disk.

"Piracy and illegal copying is one of the most significant barriers to the online distribution of music and other intellectual property," said Kevin Hause, manager of IDC's Consumer Devices. "Easing copyright concerns with security and encryption tools not only creates robust opportunity for content publishers and distributors, but also benefits consumers through wider selection of online content."

Through the IomegaReady Toolkit, developers and content providers can allow their downloadable information to be secured to a Zip or Jaz disk so the information can only be played back from that specific disk. The technology will use an encryption scheme to secure content to Iomega disks. It has the ability to turn the 19 million Iomega Zip drives that have been shipped into playback machines for the Internet.

"Zip consumers are moving beyond simply storing and transporting the information they create, to actively surfing the Net for information they want to save and use again and again," said Edward D. Briscoe, president, personal storage division, Iomega Corporation. "The Internet provides the next great frontier for the Zip disk, offering a treasure trove of information and entertainment that Zip customers can download, Record-to-Zip and play back anytime. In essence, the Zip disk of the digital future can be used as a VCR for the Internet."

Third party industry research indicates that Iomega's Record/Play initiative will be appreciated by consumers and content producers. "We engaged Yankelovich Partners to conduct a study of Internet users and more than 80 percent of them indicated that they would use this product," said Jim Taylor, chief marketing officer, Iomega Corporation. "Moreover, 72 percent of those Internet users already use Iomega technology. Our solution is designed to protect the rights of producers and give control, privacy and, most importantly, content to consumers."

Based in Somerville, Mass., SoundStone Entertainment is a music retailer that uses interactive technologies to develop innovative on- and off-line products and services tailored to different categories of music enthusiasts. Unlike traditional music retailers that are using the same merchandising techniques both on- and off-line, SoundStone Entertainment employs a new approach to online music retailing through targeted content and presentation for segmented audiences, such as the baby boomer (SoundStone.com) and 15 - 24 year old (rock.com).

Redwood City, Calif.-based Liquid Audio, is the first Internet company focusing exclusively on the needs of the professional audio and music industries providing labels, artists and production facilities with software tools and technologies to enable the secure online distribution of professional-quality audio. Liquid Audios technology allows consumers to preview and purchase CD-quality music over the Internet, while ensuring copyright protection and tracking royalties. Formed by veterans of the music industry and professional recording engineers, Liquid Audio is leading the convergence of music and technology to establish the Internet as a new medium for music publishing.