Paris, France and Burbank, CA—Sep 7, 2006
Thomson Unveils Significant Enhancements to NexGuard™ Content Security Solution at IBC 2006
Advanced Functionalities Added to NexGuard’s Secure Workflow Capabilities
Thomson (Euronext 18453; NYSE: TMS) today announced significant enhancements to NexGuard(™), its comprehensive, state-of-the-art anti-piracy product line. The new capabilities, unveiled at IBC 2006, expand the portion of the NexGuard solution dedicated to production and postproduction content security. They include a new administration tool that provides clients with complete control of their internal content security system; third party licenses that secure work performed by consultants, subcontractors and other personnel working outside a main facility; and complete Mac OS X functionality.
“NexGuard’s new workflow tools will provide our clients with even greater flexibility, freedom to collaborate securely, and power to manage their valued assets,” said Jean-Charles Hourcade, CTO Thomson and co-head of the Technology division. “Content must be protected during postproduction and exhibition, and it is Thomson’s goal to help the media and entertainment industries address both challenges.”
NexGuard’s new administration tool will arm postproduction companies, broadcasters, filmmakers and studios with separate controls for encryption and digital rights management. From the moment it is created or received, content can remain encrypted, and clients can manage and update access and usage rights independent of the encryption process.
Going forward, NexGuard will support licenses not only to members of a trusted community, but also to third-party users outside the group such as subcontractors and advertising agencies. Finally, with the introduction of OS X functionalities, NexGuard becomes the first and only pre-release content security system to extend its reach beyond PC platforms and include Macintosh, a top choice for editors, post houses, and graphic artists.
About NexGuard’s Production and Postproduction Solution
NexGuard’s production and postproduction solution guards against piracy of any PC or Macintosh file containing content throughout the professional workflow. It enables secure collaboration within a company and across multiple facilities. NexGuard also provides increased security by enabling the distribution of view-only files that cannot be modified and working files that can be altered only as specified by digital rights.
NexGuard’s pre-release solution contains four tools--NexGuard Packager, NexGuard Granter, NexGuard Viewer and NexGuard Token Manager--which are powered by cutting-edge encryption, watermarking and key management technologies. Both NexGuard Granter and NexGuard Viewer work with NexGuard’s Token Manager system, which uses a USB memory stick with a smart card in SIM format to authenticate and control access rights and imprint identifying watermarks.
About NexGuard
NexGuard is the only content security system designed from the ground up to serve the media and entertainment professional environment. It secures and streamlines the storage, transfer and viewing of digital content in production, postproduction, distribution and exhibition and is the most wide-ranging, anti-piracy solution for audiovisual content.
Certain statements in this press release, including any discussion of management expectations for future periods, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements due to changes in global economic and business conditions, consumer electronics markets, and regulatory factors. More detailed information on the potential factors that could affect the financial results of Thomson is contained in Thomson's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
