Digital Signage News: Adobe bans its Media Player from digital-signage devices

Sunday, April 13th, 2008 at 9:58 pm by DigitalSignageBlog, 0 Comments »

We came across an interesting article about the Adobe Media player and thought we’d share it with the rest of the digital signage blog readers. The source of the article is from sindhtoday (http://www.sindhtoday.net/technology/594.htm):

“Digital-signage networks using Adobe’s new Media Player to show content could be in breach of the software company’s licence agreement – as hundreds of networks already using Adobe’s Flash are also believed to be.

The licence for Media Player 1.0, released this week almost a year after its first announcement, states that it cannot be run on “any non-PC device or with any embedded or device version of any operating system”, a proviso which effectively forbids its use with the “black box” dedicated media-player hardware that many networks prefer to PCs for space and security reasons.

A similar prohibition on the use of Flash in non-PC systems has led some to speculate that screen-media networks are widely in technical breach of Adobe’s terms.

The new media-player software marks Adobe’s entry into Internet TV, providing consumers with playback of streamed or downloaded video at up to HD resolutions. Users can subscribe to content from the likes of CBS and MTV, and choose their viewing from a searchable catalogue.

For the content owners, meanwhile, Adobe Media Player offers anonymous audience metrics and targetable advertising.

Because the software is so tightly tied to specific content, unlike general-purpose counterparts such as Windows Media Player and indeed Flash, it may not immediately tempt digital-signage businesses. Indeed, one commentator has described it as “a pure online play that competes with applications such as Joost” rather than a media player in the conventional sense.

But as major U.S. TV networks – including Adobe’s partner CBS – increasingly look to out-of-home as an alternative delivery route for their content, it’s likely that some screen operators would find Adobe Media Player an effective way to obtain and play that content…if only the licence permitted it.”

We haven’t seen or used the Adobe media player in our digital signage solutions but it’s interesting to know more about the licensing requirements.

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Tags: Adboe Media Player, digital signage players, licencing