BT Group has moved into the digital content management
market with the launch of a media platform to offer businesses and,
eventually, individuals, the ability to store, manage, deliver and
sell content such as music and video footage.
The BT Rich Media platform counts on a partnership from
RealNetworks, which is providing management tools for content
publishing, and TWI Interactive, whose Interactive Content Factory
platform will allow users to edit and produce online content
remotely.
The offering banks on growing broadband adoption and aims to
propel the amount of legitimate content available online.
All of the content offered on the platform will have digital
rights management (DRM) software embedded in it from DMD
Secure. The software can be downloaded for free and the content
provider enables it, allowing users to set rules for sharing and
billing options.
Businesses can sign up for the platform now and it will be
available to consumers by the end of the third quarter of this
year. Pricing depends on user needs, such as storage, bandwidth and
applications required as well as on the number of users who are
expected to download content.
In addition to pushing BT into the content management market,
the offering will allow the company to promote its broadband
business. BT has been undergoing an aggressive high-speed internet
push, and said earlier this year that revenue from its broadband
business had grown 161% for the third quarter of 2003 over the
previous year.
Scarlet Pruitt writes for IDG News
Service