Disney pushing KeyChest DRM barrow

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 07 January 2010 05:03

Your IT - Home IT

Disney is trying to interest the video industry in its KeyChest technology that promises a 'buy anywhere, play anywhere' model for DRM protected content.

News of Disney's KeyChest technology leaked out last year, but the company has now revealed its plans.

The idea is that the licence obtained by paying for a movie (or presumably some other content) in one format extends to other formats.

So a customer could 'purchase' a movie or TV show through an online service like Apple's iTunes or Amazon Video On Demand, and then be able to watch the same title from another participating distributor without having to pay for the content a second time.

In this way, a purchased movie isn't limited to a specific format or device, but could instead be watched on any device supported by any participating distributor.

So the movies you purchase online or on physical media - KeyChest reportedly accommodates Blu-ray discs and DVDs - could be also available on demand from your mobile phone or pay TV provider at no additional charge for the content itself.

In part, this can be seen as an extension of the 'digital copy' of some Blu-ray and DVD movies that can be played on compatible portable devices. The problem is that there's no guarantee the digital copy of any particular movie will use DRM that's compatible with your particular device.

But there's already competition for KeyChest - see page 2 .