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Five out of the six majors have banded together on a tech consortium to help standardize digital media for maximum portability.However, the biggest player in digital media, Apple, is absent from the group, as is Disney, a studio with strong ties to the Apple through topper Steve Jobs, a major Mouse House shareholder.
There's an easy explanation for the absence: The goal of Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem will be to create an open environment for digital media, and Apple relies upon a more closed environment for iTunes and iPod devices. iTunes purchases cannot be readily transferred to non-Apple devices, and DECE wants to ensure consumers can "buy once, play anywhere."
The article doesn't get into the issue of backwards compatibility. Apple might also be resistant, eg, if the new format would make all existing iPods obsolete.
For that matter, what about all those mp3 players out there?
