Head of High-Tech SDMI Group Steps Down

S A N   F R A N C I S C O, Jan. 26 -- The head of a coalition charged with developing technical standards for the secure delivery of digital music formats such as MP3 has stepped down from his post.

Secure Digital Music Initiative executive director LeonardoChiariglione announced Wednesday he would resign from the forum,which is comprised of about 200 electronics manufacturers and majorrecord labels.

Chiariglione was selected to direct SDMI shortly after itsinception in 1998. He is a founder of the Moving Picture ExpertsGroup, the very collection of software engineers responsible forcreating the MP3 technology which has been the bane of therecording industry with the advent of Napster and otherfile-sharing applications.

Chiariglione moves on to lead a new multimedia initiative atCSELT, the corporate research center of the Telecom Italia Group.

“I have been honored to work with a broad and diverse group aswe addressed the leading issues in the Internet economy. The workSDMI has done to explore issues, provoke debates, and developcontent protection and management alternatives in the Internetmusic arena has already helped guide those working on books andvideo,” Chiariglione said.

While guiding SDMI through technical specification developmentsfor portable MP3 players and other hardware, Chiariglione saw muchof SDMI’s goal of developing protected forms of digital musicdiluted by wary members looking to capitalize on the popularity ofmusic trading.

Where Napster Fits In

SDMI member BMG Entertainment has consistently hedged its betson MP3, going so far as to partner with Napster earlier this year.BMG hopes to work with Napster in creating a new, securemembership-based distribution system that will guarantee paymentsto artists.

No such secure system is yet in place on Napster’s service andthe free trade of music online continues. Napster still awaits adecision from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on thecopyright infringement suit filed against the Redwood City-basedcompany by the recording industry.