Coral Consortium wants Steve Jobs and Apple to join

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By Steve Ragan Feb 14, 2007, 16:05 GMT

The Coral Consortium, a group that exists to promote interoperability between DRM (Digital Rights Management) technologies that exist in the current consumer media market, posted a letter asking Steve Jobs and Apple to join the group. Coral Consortium has a single goal, to create a common framework for content, device and service providers regardless of the current DRM technology they use. They are not trying to abolish DRM. They think DRM can work, what holds it back is not DRM but the business practice behind DRM usage. In the letter to Steve Jobs, they make this point clear.“Dear Mr. Jobs,
The directors of Coral Consortium were pleased to hear about your interest in interoperability. We agree with you that this is a big problem for consumers. They should be able to acquire content from a wide variety of competitive service providers and play their purchased content on a range of devices and platforms from different manufacturers. This is an issue that is very important to our membership.”– Open letter to Steve Jobs, Coral ConsortiumThey explain that the framework for their technology will integrate well with iTunes, and that music is not the only facet he can use, video too will work on their platform. If Apple were to join and adopt the technology mentioned, ‘FairPlay’ would remain safe, while allowing Apple access to Janus devices and services as well as OMA (Open Mobile Alliance) devices and services. Finally, they wrap with a listing of companies and technology providers that list the same ‘big four’ Jobs mentioned in his letter.EMI, Sony BMG, Universal, Warner Bros., as well as Time Warner Cable, NBC, and Twentieth Century Fox are all apart of the Coral’s membership. An impressive list all on its own and one that Apple might look at, they already do business with some of them. The shift to leave DRM behind is growing; there is a renewed buzz about DRM and the movement to leave it after comments by Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. These rumors and reports are all business related. The letter from the Coral Consortium is business related.The largest complaint against DRM from consumers is not business related; it is the fact that some consumers feel like they are being treated like criminals. The warnings at the start of the recently released DVD’s are one cited example. The fact that music bought online from some sources will only work on a single platform is another. The thought that “I bought it, I can do with it as I please” is what drives most complaints against DRM technology.It is interesting to see that EMI appears to be playing both sides of the fence. Recently, they were reported as accepting proposals to online music stores in regards to payments and licensing fees to sell music without DRM. They appear on the membership list as well. DRM will always spark a heated debate when it comes to usage and the consumer. There will be those who support it because of who and what it protects, and some who fight against it because of its less than stellar cross compatibility performance. Either way you look at it, there is no real winner because the argument goes both ways.

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JFeb 14th, 2007 - 17:20:47

I think that they are referring to a 'letter' and not a 'litter'. Real lame editing...

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mercury7Feb 14th, 2007 - 17:52:21

DRM does absolutely nothing to stop pirating.

It's better to give people a pleasurable experience than to worry too much about profits. That's why companies like Fry's Electronics allow returns to the store - because it keeps the customer happy, and they will end up coming to the store more often. That is a lesson music executives need to learn.

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SteveFeb 14th, 2007 - 18:26:31

'They are listed on the list of Coral’s list of active members.'

So you're saying they're on the list...

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AnonFeb 14th, 2007 - 18:29:52

The music industry has to realise that if the status quo is not working, maybe they should try something else.

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JeffFeb 14th, 2007 - 18:43:09

sounds like Coral is saying 'put up or shut up' to Steve Jobs words about DRM protection. obviously if he joins coral, then his words werent just empty rhetoric. If he does not, well you know.

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ScottFeb 14th, 2007 - 19:11:57

As an average consumer, I don't mind being 'locked' into one particular music store or device ... I just want access to all the music in a format that will play.

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discFeb 14th, 2007 - 21:49:12

Thanks for the introduction to Coral Consortium. I never heard of this group til now. It's interesting to see all the content owners/providers in the membership. Indicates to me that they're frustrated with closed DRM solutions and want something more standardized/interoperable too.

Which I imagine is precisely what the dominant vendors (microsoft and apple) don't want - they'll want to keep the solutions closed as long as possible, as long as it protects market share. In which case, it seems like the next step for the Coral Consortium should be to get some market acceptance in service provider business models to get some teeth. Maybe the OMA could help them with that.

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