DCIA and ITA Combine Forces to Encourage IPTV Development

Las Vegas, NV – The Distributed Computing Industry Association (www.DCIA.info) and the Interactive Television Alliance (www.itvalliance.org) today announced a strategic alliance to accelerate commercial development of Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) among their respective member companies and the entertainment and technology industries at large.

The trade groups will encourage joint memberships and sponsor special projects. An inaugural effort was announced by long-standing DCIA Member INTENT MediaWorks, which has now also joined the ITA (www.intentmediaworks.com). The announcement was made on the first day of the annual National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) Conference & Exposition.

“IPTV represents the future of delivery for a vastly expanded range of interactive as well as traditional video program offerings, and the peer-to-peer (P2P) technologies whose commercial development is being fostered by DCIA Members represents its most efficient implementation. We welcome opportunities to partner with the ITA and its members,” said DCIA CEO Marty Lafferty.

“P2P enables large video files to be redistributed via IPTV at enormous savings to rights holders and distributors, making it more cost-effective than ever before to support smaller niche audiences for video programming and their related interactive applications, as well as mass-audience TV programs, and we welcome this opportunity to capitalize on the work of the DCIA as the ITA and our members expand IPTV adoption,” added ITA CEO Allison Dollar.

“As an early and active DCIA Member, we are proud to be the first to also join ITA, and to concurrently announce at NATPE and MIDEM an inaugural project with Mediaguide that augurs well for the future of both P2P-based IPTV and digital music, with its enhanced control and reporting of digital distribution offered by the INTENT platform to advertisers and content owners,” concluded INTENT MediaWorks CEO Les Ottolenghi.

INTENT MediaWorks, the world’s largest distributor of licensed content via P2P file-sharing networks, and Mediaguide, the leading provider of digital fingerprinting technology, announced their partnership to combine tracking and reporting, initially of music content from on-air and online radio broadcasts with legal P2P music downloads, and later expanding into a similar system for video content. This agreement will provide the industry’s most comprehensive view of on- and offline music usage to rights holders.

Mediaguide’s proprietary digital fingerprinting software will identify songs that are uploaded to the INTENT system, which tracks file-sharing networks comprised of more than 250 million consumers across the Internet, to determine whether the songs have been licensed. Non-licensed tracks will be blocked until rights holders have entered a license arrangement with INTENT.

“This agreement not only provides a legal means for consumers to share music over the Internet, it also integrates radio airplay tracking with file activity on the Internet, ensuring that rights owners receive a full view of and appropriate compensation for their work,” said Steve Lubin, vice president and general manager of Mediaguide, a subsidiary of ASCAP. “This is particularly powerful for the growing number of independent artists who, for the first time, will be able to see for themselves exactly how many times their songs are played and downloaded.”

INTENT allows content rights holders to determine how they want to present their material to consumers online, from charging a fee to offering free promotional or ad-supported files for sharing. This allows consumers to access “free” content in a P2P environment, while allowing rights holders to gain exposure and revenue. The combination of INTENT digital rights management (DRM) and Mediaguide fingerprinting technology will offer rights holders legal, protected access to the P2P file-sharing community on their own terms.

For the first time, on-air radio broadcasts will be tracked against P2P content downloads. Consumers will benefit with better access to more music while rights holders, including publishers, songwriters, and performing artists, will have a more complete understanding of the popularity of their music.”

To combine the tracking of on-air and online radio airplay as well as P2P trading activity, Mediaguide will add INTENT P2P trading data to its reporting systems via an existing partnership with Internet radio data provider, Radiowave Airplay Monitor. This will create the industry’s most comprehensive and affordable market intelligence on these three mediums for artists and artist services companies.

Mediaguide data will also be used to create customized charts and playlists for consumers who download tracks through INTENT, helping fuel discovery of new music for consumers in the legal P2P community.

INTENT MediaWorks also plans to expand this initial offering with Mediaguide for music to the new P2P IPTV marketplace for video.

About the DCIA

The Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA) is a non-profit trade organization focused on commercial development of peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing and related distributed computing technologies.

DCIA Membership is organized into three Groups: Content, Operations, and Platform. The DCIA conducts working groups and special projects, such as the Consumer Disclosures Working Group (CDWG), P2P PATROL, MGM v. Grokster Response Working Group (MGRWG), the P2P Revenue Engine (P2PRE), and the P2P Digital Watermark Working Group (PDWG). It also publishes the weekly online newsletter DCINFO. Learn more about the DCIA at www.dcia.info.

About the ITA

The ITV Alliance is a traditional trade association representing the interests of specific companies. Members are the most senior executives at companies interested in the ITV industry with decision-making authority. In addition, there is a Professional Membership category, comprised of consultants, analysts, and other well-established independent experts in the ITV field.

The ITV Alliance is a multi-tiered organization, comprised of an elected Board of Directors, 8 Industry Councils, an Executive Committee, an honorary Foundation Committee, executive administrative staff, and industry volunteers.

The leadership meets at least 4 times a year in conjunction with existing conferences. The general membership communicates through e-mail groups, invitation-only online forums, and regular conference calls. There's an e-mail newsletter and associated print publication to keep the industry informed of current events and trends. Learn more about the ITA at www.itvalliance.org.

About INTENT MediaWorks

INTENT MediaWorks, headquartered in Atlanta, GA, is the world’s largest distributor of authorized peer-to-peer (P2P) download entertainment media over popular P2P applications. INTENT’s business is to provide legal, safe, and secure means for distribution of entertainment and corporate media via P2P and Web technologies. It is the only P2P service that combines both fair payment to content owners and “free” ad-sponsored downloads to consumers.

INTENT’s customers are content owners, content producers, media companies, artists, advertisers, and technology providers to the media industry. INTENT has attracted advertisers and developed turnkey solutions for marketing content (free and for sale) through affiliation agreements with leading open-P2P software distributors. In addition, INTENT offers major media owners secure, ad-sponsored content distribution over a closed P2P application. INTENT integrates the viral power and social networking of P2P file-sharing with online marketing to distribute indie and branded music, videos, film, TV programs, and advertising to an audience of over 60 million consumers per month. Learn more about INTENT at www.intentmediaworks.com.

About Mediaguide

Mediaguide's proprietary digital fingerprinting technology monitors over 2,500 radio stations across the United States 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - that's more than the combined number of stations monitored by its closest competitors.

It is the first and only company to electronically monitor college, non-commercial, and commercial radio stations. That combination gives Mediaguide the unique ability to provide airplay information that had been available only to and about commercial mainstream artists to include self-released and independent artists, and those who want to discover and support them.

The Mediaguide Monitor™ platform provides music industry professionals, artists, songwriters, and radio station directors with online, real-time access to the most comprehensive and cost effective radio airplay information available. Based in Berwyn, PA, Mediaguide is a joint venture of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and ConneXus Corporation. Learn more about Mediaguide at www.mediaguide.com.