Message #56 From:
NewsBot Date: December 15, 2006 08:30:00 AM
DTV News DVB-S2 Intellectual Property Rights Holders Announce Favorable Licensing Terms Under Joint Licensing Program
EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The DIRECTV Group, RAI and ESA, the holders of key DVB (Digital Video
Broadcasting)-S2 intellectual property rights, announced today the
fundamental terms of a comprehensive licensing offering under their
combined patent rights for DVB-S2 standardized technology.
The offering will set limits on cumulative royalties paid for the
licensing of intellectual property rights in order to speed adoption of
the DVB-S2 standard. DVB-S2 is the second generation DVB system for
broadband satellite communications, covering digital TV and HDTV
broadcasting, interactive services, and professional links by satellite.
The three rights holders will jointly offer a license under their
combined portfolios of intellectual property rights necessary for the
implementation of DVB-S2. For consumer applications, such as satellite
television set-top box receivers, a license under the combined
portfolios will not exceed $0.50 per product in quantities exceeding
500,000 over the term of the license and not to exceed $1.00 per product
in lower quantities. Licenses for consumer applications will be granted
for five-year terms. Renewals will be granted on fair and reasonable
terms based on then-current market conditions.
Free-to-air and pay-TV broadcasters will not be required to pay a
separate service license fee to broadcast to licensed receivers. The per
product royalties and the arrangements for broadcasters are geared to
help launch DVB-S2 technology and follow the commitment of the rights
holders to offer licenses on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory
terms.
“We feel that it is important to confirm to
the marketplace that the cumulative royalties for the licensing of known
essential IPRs will indeed be fair and reasonable,”
said Dr. Alberto Morello, Director of the RAI Research Centre.
“DIRECTV developed essential DVB-S2 coding
technology to significantly expand the capacity of its direct-to-home
broadcast business. By confirming that a license under the DIRECTV, RAI
and ESA patents will not exceed $0.50 per consumer product -- with no
additional service royalties or other service fees owed by free-to-air
and pay-TV broadcasters -- manufacturers and service providers will now
be able to set their business models to take advantage of this important
technology,” added Romulo Pontual, Executive
Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of DIRECTV.
"We expect that these conditions will foster a rapid adoption of this
innovative standard by the global satellite broadcast and
telecommunication industry," concluded Giuseppe Viriglio, ESA Director
of Telecommunication and Navigation.
The licensing model under the combined portfolio for interactive and
professional applications such as pay-TV, data broadcasting/internet
access and satellite news gathering will be announced shortly. DIRECTV,
RAI and ESA, however, confirmed that the cumulative royalties for the
related equipment (e.g., modulators, demodulators, etc.) are not
expected to exceed 1-2% of the equipment cost.
For broadcast applications (using QPSK and 8PSK modulations only) the
licensing program will be administered by DIRECTV (contact John T.
Whelan, john@baysidelaw.com).
For the other cases, including, for example, professional/interactive
applications and advanced broadcasting using 16APSK and 32APSK, the
program will be administered by each entity (contacts: DIRECTV: John T.
Whelan, john@baysidelaw.com;
RAI: Alberto Morello, a.morello@rai.it;
ESA: Luz Becker, luz.becker@esa.int).
The rights holders are nearing completion of work on a form of license
agreement. Entities which believe they hold patents essential to the
DVB-S2 technology are encouraged to contact Mr. Whelan at john@baysidelaw.com.
About The DIRECTV Group, Inc.
DIRECTV Group (NYSE:DTV) is a world-leading provider of digital
television entertainment services. DIRECTV Group is approximately 39
percent owned by News Corporation. DIRECTV and the Cyclone Design logo
are registered trademarks of DIRECTV, Inc., which is a wholly owned
subsidiary of DIRECTV Group and the nation’s
leading digital television service provider, with more than 15.6 million
customers.
About RAI
RAI (Radiotelevisione Italiana) is the Italian public broadcaster for
radio and television over the air, via satellite and cable, or any other
means. It provides program production and network operation for three
national analog television channels broadcast in VHF/UHF bands. These
programs are re-broadcast in digital format by satellite and in two
terrestrial bouquets, including a growing number of thematic channels in
clear. It provides also production and network operation for three radio
channels, broadcast in MW and FM, and international radio programs in SW.
About ESA
The European Space Agency (ESA) is an international organization, with
17 member states, set up to provide for and to promote, for exclusively
peaceful purposes, cooperation among European states in space research
and technology and their space applications. ESA draws up a European
space plan and has the task of carrying it out. Its activities span the
fields of space science, Earth observation, telecommunications,
satellite navigation, human spaceflight, microgravity research,
exploration and space transportation systems. ESA has its headquarters
in Paris, France, with establishments in The Netherlands, Germany, Italy
and Spain; a launch base in Kourou, French Guiana; and offices in
Washington, Moscow and Brussels.
