Time Warner invests in digital rights co

SEATTLE: Media conglomerate Time Warner Inc. said that it had taken an equity stake in ContentGuard, a provider of software that protects digital files from illegal copying and use.

Microsoft Corp., already an investor in ContentGuard, also increased its stake in the digital rights management (DRM) company.

Companies such as Microsoft and Time Warner are investing heavily in DRM technology as they seek ways to protect digital content, such as music and video files, from being copied illegally. Many content providers, including Time Warner, have been reluctant to offer their content without DRM safeguards.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Microsoft and Time Warner said they would work closely together and with ContentGuard to "further develop ContentGuard's rich portfolio of intellectual property and promote continued development and innovation in the areas of digital distribution and DRM."

Japan's Sony Corp., the world's biggest consumer electronics company and also a content provider, licensed ContentGuard's DRM technology in 2002.

Microsoft, Time Warner and ContentGuard had purchased most of the stake held in ContentGuard from Xerox Corp., which had provided much of the company's basic technology. Xerox is retaining a small equity investment in ContentGuard.

Reuters