Premium Cable TV on a Personal Computer; Mindport Collaborates With Microsoft and SCM Microsystems To Demonstrate Secure OpenCable Premium TV Delivery to The PC.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers NCTA NCTA National Cable & Telecommunications Association (fka National Cable Television Association) NCTA National Cable Television Association (now the National Cable & Telecommunications Association) 2000, Booth 1055 NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 8, 2000 Mindport's Irdeto Access Conditional Access Conditional Access (acronymized CA) is the protection of content by requiring certain criteria to be met before granting access to this content. The term is commonly used in relation to digital television systems, most notably satellite television. POD Module to be Demonstrated With First OpenCable(R) Broadband PC Receiver At NCTA Trade Exhibition Mindport announced today that it is collaborating with Microsoft Corp. and SCM (1) (Software Configuration Management, Source Code Management) See configuration management. (2) See supply chain management. Microsystems (Nasdaq:SCMM SCMM Standing Committee on Military Matters SCMM Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon (Mumbai, India) SCMM SoCal MINI Maniacs (Los Angeles, CA) SCMM Software Capability Maturity Model , Neuer Markt:SMY SMY Solar Maximum Year ) to demonstrate the secure delivery of premium digital cable television programming for direct viewing from a personal computer. Mindport is the technology subsidiary of MIH MIH Make It Happen (band) MIH Master of International Health (University of Copenhagen) MIH Molar-Incisor-Hypomineralisation MIH Men in Hats (online comic) Limited (Nasdaq:MIHL MIHL Midland Inline Hockey League (Midland, Michigan) MIHL Mullet Invitational Hockey League ), and a leading global provider of convergence solutions for pay media. This collaborative demonstration at the NCTA trade show will show how the delivery of premium video content to the PC can benefit both content owners and end-users. Cable subscribers can use their computers as HDTV-ready receiving devices for digital video content while taking advantage of the processing power and interactivity inherent in the PC platform. Content owners and cable operators can gain access to the massive market of current PC users as potential customers. They also benefit from cable's inherent broadcast-quality broadband connection See broadband and wireless broadband. , which opens the door to a wide array of new value-added entertainment services. The cable-to-PC demonstration will be part of Mindport's NCTA 2000 "security pavilion," where visitors will see how the company's proven Irdeto Access conditional access (CA) technology is being applied in both the video and IP/Internet environments. The exhibit will showcase Mindport's Irdeto Access Point of Deployment (POD) removable security module for the U.S. cable TV market, which is being jointly developed with SCM Microsystems. The Mindport POD will enable SCM's newly developed broadband PC receiver, in the form of a 1394-Device Bay plug-in module to receive encrypted Cable TV programming on a PC using Microsoft's latest Broadcast Driver Architecture The Broadcast Driver Architecture (or BDA) is a Microsoft standard for digital video capture on their Windows operating systems. It encompasses the ATSC and DVB standards and gives developers a standardized method of accessing TV tuner devices (usually PCI or USB). to be included in future versions of Windows. The combined solution is designed to function in accordance with the U.S. open The term U.S. Open is applied to "open" United States national championships in a particular sport, in which anybody, amateur or professional, American or non-American may compete. These include:
"We're pleased to be working with Mindport on this important convergence technology in the North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. cable television market," said Dave Fester fester /fes·ter/ (fes´ter) to suppurate superficially. fes·ter v. 1. To ulcerate. 2. To form pus; putrefy. n. An ulcer. , general manager of marketing, Digital Media Division at Microsoft Corp. "Microsoft recognizes the extraordinary opportunities created for PC users by receiving a full range of premium cable television programming directly to the desktop." "SCM and Mindport have a strong history of collaboration in implementing solutions that benefit the pay-television industry," said Luc Vantalon, vice president of business development at SCM Microsystems. "We're excited to be working with Mindport on conditional access in conjunction with our PC receiver. The opportunity to bring the power and flexibility of the PC to the television market is tremendous, and we believe Mindport, Microsoft and SCM are well prepared to deliver on this opportunity to bring benefit to viewers, operators and content providers." Jock Anderson, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Mindport Inc. continued, "Mindport's Irdeto Access is an active participant in the OpenCable process and is working hard to bring our proven conditional access technology to the North American cable market. As a strong advocate of open standards Specifications for hardware and software that are developed by a standards organization or a consortium involved in supporting a standard. Available to the public for developing compliant products, open standards imply "open systems;" that an existing component in a system can be replaced for broadband delivery, we feel it is important to champion all potential delivery mechanisms. Although the POD was primarily intended for use with television set-top boxes, we believe that it is equally appropriate for use with the PC which, when used with SCM's receiver, can serve as a powerful interactive set top box. This type of initiative brings more flexibility to content owners and more choice to consumers." Mindport's Irdeto Access recently participated in the latest round of CableLabs' POD interoperability testing, successfully demonstrating complete compatibility with a wide array of "host" units, including the SCM/Microsoft PC receiver. About Irdeto Access Irdeto Access, the conditional access company of Mindport, is recognized as one of the world's leading providers of conditional access (CA) technology. The company has been providing secure conditional access technology for more than 30 years, and was the world's first company to provide an MPEG-2/DVB compliant digital CA system. Irdeto Access products provide secure encryption of digital TV, radio and data services. With CypherCast Irdeto Access also provides technology for secure Internet Protocol See Internet and TCP/IP. (networking) Internet Protocol - (IP) The network layer for the TCP/IP protocol suite widely used on Ethernet networks, defined in STD 5, RFC 791. IP is a connectionless, best-effort packet switching protocol. scrambling for the IP multicast environment. About SCM Microsystems SCM Microsystems is a leading supplier of solutions that open the Digital World by enabling people to conveniently access secure digital content and services. The company operates in four primary markets: Digital TV, Broadband Access, PC/Network Security and Digital Media Transfer. SCM's advanced silicon solutions, hardware and software enable secure exchange of electronic information for applications such as e-commerce and broadband content delivery by providing controlled access points to platforms such as PCs, Internet music players, and digital television set-top boxes. Global head quarters are in Los Gatos, Calif., with European headquarters in Pfaffenhofen, Germany. For additional information, visit the SCM Microsystems Web site at www.scmmicro.com. About Mindport Mindport, the technology subsidiary of NASDAQ and AEX AEX See: Amsterdam Exchange listed MIH Limited (Nasdaq:MIHL)(AEX:MIH), is a global solutions provider of media commerce technologies for pay-TV and the Internet, enabling platform and channel operators to maximize their e-business opportunities. Mindport has focused its business in the following areas: Conditional Access, Customer Care and Billing, Interactive Set-top Box Operating Systems, System Integration and Consultancy, Set-top Boxes and Broadband Internet Systems. Most of these businesses are 100% owned by Mindport. Mindport is a major shareholder in OpenTV (Nasdaq:OPTV)(AEX:OPTV), the leading worldwide provider of software to enable digital interactive television. OpenTV provides a complete end-to end solution for the development and delivery of interactive services via digital satellite, cable, and terrestrial broadcast. Sun Microsystems is also a substantial minority shareholder. Other investors in OpenTV include America Online, Motorola, Liberty Digital, News Corp. and Time Warner. OpenTV is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif. For further information visit Mindport online at www.mindportusa.com Notes: NCTA Show Dates: May 8-11 in New Orleans. Mindport's NCTA booth is number 1055. Microsoft's NCTA booth is number 3501. (R)OpenCable is a registered trademark of CableLabs. |
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