ONdigital licenses Macrovision copy protection technology for ONrequest, the digital pay-per-view service
8th February 2001
Macrovision UK Ltd, a subsidiary of Macrovision Corporation (NASDAQ: MVSN), the world leader in digital rights management announced today that ONdigital, the UK's first and largest digital terrestrial television provider, has licensed Macrovision's pay-per-view copy protection technology for use on ONrequest, the pay-per-view service it jointly owns with SDN.
"Macrovision's pay-per-view copy protection is rapidly becoming a standard feature in digital satellite, cable, terrestrial, and NVOD/VOD networks worldwide and we are delighted to welcome ONdigital, one of the world's leading interactive digital TV service providers, to the growing list of Macrovision licensed PPV operators," said David Simmons, Managing Director of Macrovision UK Ltd. "System operators are becoming more and more aware of the benefits of copy protection and of the need to protect their intellectual property. The use of copy protection also provides system operators with a strong argument to be able to acquire and show the most recent movie releases to the consumer, thus leading to increased buy rates"
Macrovision's technology allows consumers to view, but not make a viewable copy of, programmes that are copy protected at the direction of PPV system operators or programme suppliers. The technology is designed to deter unauthorized home taping of digitally delivered PPV programmes. This allows copyright owners to minimize cannibalisation of their home video revenues while maximizing PPV system operator revenues.
About ONdigital
ONdigital is the world's first commercial digital terrestrial TV platform. It is jointly owned by Carlton Communications plc and Granada Media PLC, who each own 50% of the company. ONdigital launched in November 1998 with 30 channels from the UK's leading television production and broadcasting companies - Carlton, Granada, BBC/Flextech and BSkyB. By December 2000 it had 1,012,000 customers, 54 channels and had introduced a wide range of interactive services, including digital text services, games, Pay-Per-View, interactive advertising and programming. In October 2000 it launched ONnet, providing full Internet access through the TV.
About Macrovision Corporation
Macrovision develops and markets copy protection, digital rights management and electronic license management technologies for the home video, consumer interactive software and enterprise software markets. Motion picture studios, cable and satellite TV operators, consumer electronics companies and personal computer manufacturers use Macrovision's video copy protection technologies to prevent the unauthorized duplication, reception or use of copyrighted video materials. Over 300 million DVDs, 3 billion videocassettes, and 50 million digital set top boxes have utilized Macrovision's video copy protection technologies. Macrovision has its corporate headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif., with European headquarters in London and Asia-Pacific headquarters in Tokyo.