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POWEREDCOM, Toshiba and Tokyo Electric Power Company have announced that they will start trial operation of a new DVD content distribution service, "Hikari de DVD," that delivers video to DVD recorders in the home via a high capacity fiber-optic broadband network.

"Hikari de DVD" is the first video content distribution system to combine the capabilities of high speed FTTH (Fiber To The Home) broadband network with the versatility of a DVD recorder able to support downloads of movies and music to a DVD-RAM disc. The service adopts DVD-VR (video recording), the standard format for DVD recorders, allowing it to achieve a high level of usability. The service uses CPRM (Content Protection for Recordable Media), standard content protection technology for DVD recorders, in a digital rights management (DRM) system that supports a high level security for content distribution. The system supports both rental and sales of content. Rented content can be viewed for a certain period, while purchased content can be viewed repeatedly.

The trial service will offer approximately 300 titles, mainly movie and Japanese animation video content, from 19 content providers in Japan and overseas. A list of the content providers supporting the trial is appended to this release.

Toshiba's specially developed DVD recorder adds network support to a fully-featured home DVD recorder, allowing users to record content to a DVD-RAM disc in a similar way of recording with a usual DVD recorder.

The trial will start on December 1, 2004 in Tokyo and its environs, with 1,000 monitors. Viewers interested in becoming monitors can sign up for the trial at the "Hikari de DVD" web site (http://www.hikari-de-dvd.com) from November 2.

The three companies will use the trial to examine the usability of the system, and bring the results to development of a commercial service.