Dolby Laboratories
announced that it has acquired Cinea, a start-up content-protection and
anti-piracy technology company based in Virginia. Cinea will operate as
a wholly owned subsidiary of Dolby Laboratories, with Cinea personnel
and offices remaining in Virginia. Cinea CEO and founder Robert Schumann
becomes head of the new Dolby subsidiary, reporting to Tim Partridge,
Vice President, Professional Division, Dolby Laboratories."Content is
increasingly being delivered digitally, and unauthorized use of digital
content can have serious consequences for the content owner. Content
protection has thus become an ever more important element in enabling
the delivery of high-quality entertainment," said Partridge. "Cinea has
proven expertise in this important area, and is an ideal complement to
Dolby's audio and image expertise."
Mr. Partridge added, "Our studio customers have made it clear that
piracy is the most important problem they face today. Dolby has a long
history of meeting the needs of the film industry through technical
innovations such as stereo, surround sound, and digital audio. Content
protection is another area where innovative and comprehensive solutions
are clearly needed."
"Cinea's mission is to provide world-class anti-piracy tools and
services to our studio customers," said Schumann. "Dolby's unsurpassed
reputation for quality and customer service-and proven ability to bring
practical solutions to market-will allow Cinea to expand the scope of
our offerings and provide our customers with quality solutions
worldwide."
Mr. Schumann added, "Whether it's with Dolby's Production Services
Group working in content creation, its Professional Products Division,
or its Consumer Licensing program, we see tremendous opportunities for
our technologies. We believe Dolby is uniquely positioned to leverage
the content protection offerings of Cinea."
Cinea, Inc., was founded in 1999 to develop and commercialize a broad
variety of content protection solutions for markets that include digital
cinema, in-flight entertainment, high-definition DVD, and video on
demand. Most of Cinea's staff previously formed the senior technical and
operating team for Digital Video Express, LP (Divx), a Circuit City
subsidiary that implemented a highly secure DVD-based delivery system.
Content Protection in the Digital Entertainment Era
Entertainment content protection consists of a collection of services,
products, and licensable technologies deployed across the entire content
chain, from content creation all the way to the consumer. It is a key to
enabling the distribution of high-value digital content to consumers,
whether at home, in theatres, or other venues. The need for
interoperable secure systems is particularly important in digital
cinema, where highly valuable content is mastered, distributed, and
ultimately projected for the enjoyment of moviegoers.
Cinea possesses broad skills and proven technologies in content
protection, with an emphasis on professional markets, including digital
cinema. Specifically, Cinea possesses industry leading expertise in key
areas such as highly secure hardware and software, watermarking and
fingerprinting, back-end content protection infrastructure, and
camcorder anti-piracy.
Security products will continue to be developed in Virginia and
released under the Cinea brand, with worldwide support and
infrastructure offered by Dolby.