Advanced Television

Disney confirms Keychest digital initiative

October 22, 2009

Disney has confirmed that it is working on a new business model planning for a world becoming less dependent on DVD and Blu-ray sales.

Its so-called Keychest initiative aims to solve the conundrum of how best to distribute its content to a wide variety of platforms and devices while maintaining robust digital rights management (DRM). At the heart of the Disney proposal is an attempt to completely redefine the concept of right of ownership. In the future, consumers would effectively purchase access rights to a feature film or TV show, rather than have physical ownership of material on a disc. One Keychest solution would involve digital files being stored on a cloud server rather than on PCs owned by consumers.

According to Disney president Bob Chapek, the Keychest project is unlikely to deliver 'tangible financial results' before 2015.

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