Just under a year ago I reviewed the Monsoon Vulkano Deluxe Pro which opened up my satellite to be viewable on my laptop and IOS devices. I was able to watch my own television programming from virtually anywhere, even changing channels and setting up programs to record. Watching Monday Night Football on my deck with the iPad and catching NCAA March Madness games while away from a television is awesome. While this technology is amazing and I fully believe that I should be able to watch the content I subscribe to anytime and anywhere, many of the content companies do not agree. The fight over management of our media is just getting underway. We have seen it with the music, movies and now television industries with little or no answers for us common consumers. This week, Monsoon announced their own Multi-Screen Policy Management Solution for Multi-System Operators to manage viewing rights. Full press release from Monsoon is below.
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SAN MATEO, CA – October 13, 2011 – Monsoon Multimedia, a leading provider of video convergence products, announced today the Monsoon Multi-Screen Policy Management Solution (MPMS), which enables Multi System Operators (MSOs), such as Comcast, AT&T, Time Warner and many others worldwide, to manage viewing rights for content. The Monsoon solution can be licensed separately or bundled with its award-winning Vulkano devices.
The new MPMS addresses licensing issues around whether consumers can stream or record specific channels or shows on tablets and mobile phones. Monsoon’s Vulkano line of companion devices, when connected to any set-top box, can be programmed to control the streaming, recording or transfer of content by a MSO. Monsoon’s solution also allows MSO’s to decide whether to stream in home or out of home viewing and recordings.
The Monsoon solution allows MSOs to roll out TV Everywhere services immediately, without any new infrastructure. Current content rights can be enforced now, while new ones can be negotiated and rolled out as MSOs and content owners decide how to react to consumer demand.
“We created an elegant solution to address one of the most vexing MSO issues – the ability to control what content can be watched on which device at what time,” said Paul Friedman, Executive Vice President at Monsoon. “Content owners demand viewing rights be honored and our Multi-Screen Policy Management Solution delivers.”
The MPMS keeps a table of each show and channel – series, movies, sports events, news, documentaries, etc. – and the rights that are to be offered to the subscriber. When a subscriber makes a request to view or record a channel, Monsoon’s MPMS checks to see if the viewing or recording is authorized. If it is, the request is honored. If the Policy Management does not allow it, the request is disallowed and the subscriber is told that the feature is not supported for that channel.
Monsoon can enable or disable each of the following features on a show-by-show or channel-by-channel basis: Live TV, Recording, Local Placeshifting, Remote Placeshifting, Local Sideloading and Remote Sideloading. The rights are downloaded to the Vulkano unit much like Electronic Program Guide information is downloaded. As new rights are negotiated, they can be rolled out to the field allowing consumers to enjoy the TV access they expect and demand. For example, a widely available Over-the-Air channel might allow all of its content to be used freely, while a premium sports event might be restricted to local viewing within the home, with no recording.
Pricing and Availability
Monsoon’s Multi-Screen Policy Management Solution is availability immediately for licensing or bundled with Vulkano devices. Contact oem@monsoonmultimedia.com for pricing information.About Monsoon Multimedia
Monsoon Multimedia provides advanced, standards-based multimedia products and convergence technologies for the PC, Mac, iPad and major smartphones. Founded by the founders of Dazzle and Emuzed, the company has offices in California, India and Singapore. For more information, please visit www.monsoonmultimedia.com.For regular Vulkano updates follow us at www.Twitter.com/MyVulkano
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