Microsoft
Ending days of speculation, entertainment giant The Walt Disney
Company announced a multiyear agreement with Microsoft to license
Microsoft Windows Media technologies, including the Digital Rights
Management (DRM) component that can be used to protect the delivery of
digital content. Windows Media technologies are increasingly gaining
favor with Hollywood, as content creators seek to find secure ways to
expand into new digital markets and Internet content delivery. Disney
is the second major Hollywood player to embrace the technology in
recent days; Time Warner licensed it last fall. But the combination of
Disney and Microsoft represents a melding of two of the most respected
brands in America and reestablishes Windows Media as the de facto
standard for digital-media delivery.