Digital Watermarking Alliance Appoints New Officers

Members Unveil New Innovations in Digital Watermarking Applications 


SANTA MONICA, Calif., Oct. 28  /PRNewswire/ -- The Digital Watermarking Alliance (DWA), an international group of industry-leading companies involved in commercializing digital watermarking solutions, has elected a new leadership slate for 2009:

  Chair:  John Utley, Civolution
  Co-Vice Chairs:  Bruce Davis, Digimarc; and Jian Zhao, Thomson
  Treasurer:  Mario Petrocco, Verance
  Secretary:  Neil Lofgren, GCS Research



Recent industry developments and news demonstrating continued momentum for digital watermarking solutions include:

  --  Verimatrix has recently been awarded new patents for unique features
      within VideoMark(TM), its user-specific, forensic watermarking
      technology.  The patents cover processes on how the forensic mark is
      invisibly and robustly embedded in video content, and converted to a
      human recognizable image during extraction. As has been proven in
      multiple evaluations, a human readable mark withstands more
      sophisticated video manipulations such as cropping and geometric
      distortions, than those which rely on machine extraction alone.
      Verimatrix's end-to-end VideoMark solution includes the recovery of
      the unique client identification from all unauthorized analog and
      digital distribution formats. The mark extracted from pirated content,
      which never contains personal subscriber data, can be traced back to
      the last legal recipient of the content by the operator.

  --  GCS Research announced the official release of GeoMarc(R)3.0 for both
      desktop and server side computing environments.  GeoMarc is
      specifically designed for the Geospatial Industry, a community that
      relies heavily on satellite imagery and other pixel-based datasets for
      everyday analysis.  GeoMarc uses digital watermarking technology to
      reliably embed key pieces of information about the satellite data and
      the geographic area depicted into the image itself.  This capability
      is extremely valuable to geospatial analysts, who describe the
      watermark payload as "metadata."  Metadata, or "data about the data,"
      is considered the most valuable component of geospatial datasets.  If
      an analyst or other geospatial professional cannot determine key facts
      such as when the image was acquired, the original resolution,
      satellite sensor type, where the area is located, licensing
      restrictions, and other such facts, the image becomes simply a pretty
      picture.  GeoMarc helps protect and add value to the geospatial
      community's investment in satellite data.  GeoMarc is currently being
      used in both the military and intelligence sector and the private
      sector, including satellite data providers and their customers.

  --  Thomson recently announced that TF1, France's leading TV broadcaster,
      selected Thomson NexGuard(TM) content protection solution to secure
      its business-to-business preview content platform, TF1PRO. In
      addition, Thomson and Conax successfully integrated Conax advanced
      chipset pairing technology with Thomson's NexGuard set-top box
      watermarking solution to furnish digital TV operators with stronger
      tools for fighting illegal redistribution of premium content. For more
      information, please visit: http://contentsecurity.thomson.net/

  --  Digimarc Corporation announced the availability of its newly enhanced
      Digimarc for Images plug-ins, shipped in-box with Adobe PhotoShop(R),
      enabling photographers and corporations to better manage their photos
      and image assets by communicating copyright information and owner
      contact details, and reporting to owners on both authorized and
      unauthorized use of images online. Digimarc for Images enables content
      owners to place a persistent, invisible digital identifier (digital
      watermark) into photographs and other images.  The company also offers
      a Search Service that continuously crawls the Web looking for such
      watermarked images.  Digimarc will offer a free Webcast on November 13
      for Adobe users interested in learning more about digitally
      watermarking their images using Adobe PhotoShop(R).  For further
      information on the Webcast pricing and availability, please go to
      http://www.digimarc.com/images.

  --  The business unit formerly known as Philips Content Identification
      announced on Monday October 20th the completion of its spin-out from
      Philips Corporate Technologies. The company now operates under the new
      name Civolution B.V.. The spin-out allows Civolution the flexibility
      to take new strategic directions beyond the current scope of Philips
      and to focus fully on meeting market demands as they evolve. The
      spin-out includes Teletrax, the world's only global broadcast
      intelligence service (and former joint-venture of Philips and
      Medialink) and Mediahedge, the content identification and monetization
      platform.

  --  Earlier this year Teletrax announced a multi-year contract renewal
      with the NBC Agency, a division of NBC Universal Inc., to
      electronically monitor and analyze affiliate stations' usage of its
      on-air television show promotions across all 210 U.S. television
      markets. And Philips announced the world's first flat panel TV with
      integrated watermarking for the hospitality market. In an effort to
      deter the unlawful copying of HD movies in hotels, Philips is leading
      the industry with its integrated VTrack digital watermarking. To find
      out more visit the Civolution website: http://www.civolution.com/; Teletrax:
      http://www.teletrax.tv/; or Mediahedge: http://www.mediahedge.com/.

  --  The DWA will co-host the "Content Rights/ Content Monetization Dinner"
      at Digital Hollywood Fall, on Wednesday October 29.


  About the Digital Watermarking Alliance


The Digital Watermarking Alliance (DWA) is an international alliance of industry leading companies that deliver valuable digital watermarking technology and solutions to a broad range of customers and markets around the world. Member companies include AquaMobile, Civolution B.V., DataMark Technologies, Digimarc (NASDAQ:DMRC), GCS Research, Gibson, ISAN-IA, MarkAny, MediaGrid, Media Sciences International, Signum, Streamburst, The Nielsen Company, Thomson (Euronext 18453; NYSE: TMS), Universite Catholique de Louvain, Verance, Verimatrix, and Widevine Technologies. For more information, please visit http://www.digitalwatermarkingalliance.org/ 

DATASOURCE: Digital Watermarking Alliance



CONTACT:  For media inquiries, please contact Delisa Davis of RH

Strategic (Tel: [phone]; E-mail: )



Web Site:  http://www.civolution.com/

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