11:00 AM - 12:15 PM
Sun Microsystems Multichannel Content Distribution Developers Workshop
From Broadband Internet and Wireless to ITV & the Set-Top Box
Session I:
The Next Frontier - Digital Rights in Music, Film and Video Distribution (co-Sponsored - with the Track C: DRM Session
The entertainment news is full of it - piracy, digital rights and consumer access to content is a national obsession. The Internet may be the greatest communications medium of our time; yet it may also pose the greatest threat to the integrity of intellectual property rights of anything invented. As we know, digital delivery of music and movies over the Internet can be accomplished seamlessly and unobtrusively. In a nutshell, it is the perfect solution to the future of digital content dissemination as well as a most impossible problem to deal with. In this session we bring together a group of experts in technology, piracy, and copyright infringement to set-out the current understanding of the problem at hand and how the entertainment and technology industries are prepared to put solutions in place.
Brad Hunt, Chief Technology Officer, Motion Picture Association
Bob Gardner, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Russ Reeder, President & CEO, Rightsline
Bob Kohn, Chairman & CEO, Laugh.com
Ravi Razdan, founder, CEO & CTO, Streamtone
Katherine Parker, Business Development Manager, Entertainment & Media, Sun Microsystems, Moderator
Brad Hunt, Chief Technology Officer, Motion Picture Association: Mr. Hunt is curre
ntly the Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for the Motion Picture Association. He works closely with the seven major studios that make up the Motion Picture Association in providing guidance on technology issues and policymaking. He chairs internal MPA working groups focused on copy protection, digital cinema, and Internet security issues. He has worked in the motion picture and television industry for over twenty-five years. His career experiences have included jobs in research, marketing, business development, international sales, and strategic planning in the film, video, DVD, and post-production service industries. Mr. Hunt has a B.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. degree from the William E. Simon Graduate Business School at the University of Rochester. He serves as a Co-Chair of the cross-industry Copy Protection Technical Working Group and is a Fellow of the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers.Bob Gardner, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP: Bob Gardner is a Partner in the Global Risk Management Solutions (GRMS) practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers' Technology, Information/Communications, Entertainment & Media industry practice. He leads the GRMS Entertainment & Media practice for the United States and has over 30 years of experience in Information Technology; twenty of those years with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Bob works with Fortune 100 Entertainment companies to help them manage the risks associated with global issues impacting on-going business operations, the development and execution of major systems and technology initiatives, and the business implications of emerging technologies (e.g. Digitization of content and wireless applications) on traditional business models. Bob holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from the University of Maryland, and a M.S. degree in Technology Management from American University.
Russell P. Reeder, president and CEO, founded RightsLine after identifying a process to converge the sophisticated technology of Silicon Valley with the valuable content of Hollywood. Prior to founding RightsLine, Reeder spent 12 years in information technology, both in sales and software development. Reeder led the sales teams for several ERP and point solution vendors, including executive positions at Oracle Corporation. Reeder spent several years leading the development of financial and manufacturing applications for Fortune 50 companies including Mobil Oil Corporation, Bank of America and CoreStates Bank. After creating the e-commerce strategy for companies varying from the U.S. Postal Service, Federal Reserve and Applied Materials, Reeder moved into an executive position with RightWorks, a Sequoia Capital-backed startup, where he established B2B Web strategies for some of the most cutting-edge dot com startups including Embion.com, Fasturn.com and Silicon Valley Bank's eSource.com. Reeder holds a bachelor's degree of science in computer information systems from James Madison University. Reeder is a member of the Board of Directors for RightsLine.
Bob Kohn is chairman and CEO of Laugh.com, the world’s leading comedy record company, which he co-founded with comedian George Carlin, as well as legendary comedians Milton Berle, Shelley Berman, Red Buttons, Norm Crosby, Bill Dana, Phyllis Diller, Rich Little, Gary Owens, Jonathan Winters, and others. Mr. Kohn is a seasoned executive with experience in both the entertainment and high tech industries. Mr. Kohn co-authored with his father, Al Kohn, the 1500 page book, Kohn On Music Licensing, called "the bible on legal issues in the music world" by USA Today. He also currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of Borland Software Corporation (NASDAQ: BORL). Prior to Laugh.com, he founded EMusic.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: EMUS), the leading MP3 subscription service, where he served as Chairman until the company was sold to Vivendi/Universal in June, 2001. Mr. Kohn previously served as chief legal counsel for Borland International, Inc., Pretty Good Privacy, Inc., and Ashton-Tate Corporation. Prior to Ashton-Tate, he was an attorney at the Beverly Hills law offices of Rudin & Richman, an entertainment law firm whose clients included Frank Sinatra, Liza Minelli, Cher, and Warner Bros. Music. He was also Associate Editor of the Entertainment Law Reporter, for which he continues to serve as a member of the Advisory Board, and is adjunct professor of law, Monterey College of Law, Monterey, California. Bob Kohn lives with his family in Pebble Beach, California.
Ravi Razdan is the founder, CEO and CTO of the StreamTone, Inc. He is a seasoned tech
nologist and entrepreneur having founded various Internet start-up ventures including InfoUtility. InfoUtility was the first implementation of the now famous ASP model for a Web based office suite in 1997. InfoUtility technology was acquired in 1998 by an insurance industry ASP. Mr Razdan also ran a successful consulting practice for the last eight years creating technology solutions and setting business and e-commerce strategies for clients such as Universal Music and Motion Pictures Group, Nortel, Air France, McKesson, HNC Software and Unisys working in North America, Europe and India. His background includes publishing papers and public speaking on the topics of Information Utilities, Network Computers, Electronic Commerce, Secure Online Music Distribution, Web Services, Object Technology and Network Security. Ravi holds a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering (Honors) REC - Kashmir, India.Katherine Parker, Business Development Manager for Entertainment & Media, Sun Microsystems: Katherine's areas of concentration include go-to-market solutions for digital asset management, content management, digital rights management and monetization. Katherine brings an in-depth understanding of customer business problems, with over 11 years experience at Sun managing partner relationships and customer business initiatives. Joining Sun in 1990, Katherine served as Worldwide Market Development Manager where she established and implemented Sun's market strategy,positioning, and partner recruitment roadmap for the mediaindustry worldwide. She is a regular moderator of the SunEntertainment & Media User Group, http://www.semug.com