The Company:
Verance is a leading developer of technologies and solutions that track, manage, and enhance the use of media content. Verance holds a significant portfolio of proven audio watermarking technologies that have been deployed globally in a variety of business and consumer application areas. Verance’s audio watermark technology is the worldwide industry standard watermark for copyright protection of recorded music, film and television content and is a component of the Blu-ray, HD DVD, DVD-Audio, and SD-Audio formats. Tens of millions of music and film titles and over 100 million consumer devices have been shipped incorporating Verance’s watermark technology. Current customers include Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures, Microsoft, Warner Music, Panasonic, Philips, Sanyo, Sharp, Sony, Toshiba, and Samsung.

New Opportunity:
AACS LA, LLC, the cross-industry standards consortium specifying the content protection architecture for use in next-generation optical media formats including HD DVD and Blu-ray, has identified Verance VCMS/AV 1.0 technology as an element of its content protection solution. In the coming months, AACS LA is expected to release final license agreements requiring the inclusion of Verance watermark detector technology in HD DVD and Blu-ray players. The AACS LA founders include IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba, Disney, and Warner Bros.

Target Markets:
Verance’s proprietary technology is poised to become an essential part of the production process for premium filmed entertainment in theatrical and home video release, as well as a key component for manufacturers of semi-conductor chips, consumer electronics, and PC software.

Technology:
Verance’s patented audio watermarking technology embeds digital codes into audio recordings and transmissions regardless of the content, whether music, audiovisual material, or spoken word. This embedding is performed directly into the audio waveform by introducing small information-carrying alterations, statistically imperceptible to the human ear, designed to survive despite other security decryption. Verance’s watermarking technology is compatible with commercial recording and transmission methods, both digital and analog, and permits the embedded information to be accurately extracted from the encoded audio after audio processing, distribution and broadcast. The company’s patent portfolio of 37 awarded patents includes many fundamental innovations related to the application of watermarking technologies to various types of media content, including audio, image, and video, as well as watermarking for copy and usage management, media research, and other applications.

Management Team:
Nil Shah, Chief Executive Officer
Mario Petrocco, Chief Financial Officer
Joe Winograd, Ph.D., Chief Technical Officer
Dean Angelico, Senior Vice President, Product Development

Headquarters: San Diego, CA