Engagement with ISO/MPEG

Rightscom helps its clients to use the formal de-jure process of an ISO standards body to their benefit – whether they are actively involved or whether they want to keep a watchful eye on MPEG’s progress.

MPEG is one of the most relevant and prolific standards-setting bodies in the multimedia – and since the late 1990 – rights management area.  It has produced several digital media standards:

• MPEG-1 and -2 standardises the compression of moving pictures and audio for storage and retrieval on storage media and for digital television (these two standard include MP3 audio)

• MPEG-4 standardises the compression of audio-visual objects for the fixed and mobile web and contains a DRM component

• MPEG-7 provides a content representation standard for multimedia information to help search, filtering, archiving, management and processing of content.

MPEG-21, the multimedia framework, is MPEG’s current focus. It “aims to enable the transparent and augmented use of multimedia resources across a wide range of networks and devices”. Important elements of this standard are the Rights Expression language and underlying Rights Data Dictionary to which Rightscom provided input and expertise.

Rightscom provides support to a range of clients with different albeit compatible agendas whose business models are influenced by MPEG developments. Rightscom’s main activity is to help develop and approve our clients’ requirements for specific multimedia applications and to ensure that the technologies developed at MPEG fulfils these requirements.

Rightscom consultants have been editors of various MPEG standards (and have been awarded “ISO certificates of appreciation” for their work) amongst these are the MPEG-4 Systems/IPMP specification, the MPEG-21 Digital Items Identification standard and the MPEG-21 Rights Data Dictionary.

In addition to this active work on behalf of clients, Rightscom offers an “MPEG monitor” that enables organisations to keep a watchful eye on the activities of MPEG and when it becomes beneficial, to become actively involved.