Optical disk archival test standard

The following is from a joint press release. See
URL:http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-379.htm>
for the

    OSTA and Ecma International announce issuance of optical disk
    archival test Standard needed to promote archival-grade media

    Cupertino, Calif. and Geneva, Switzerland, July 2, 2007 - The
    Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA) and Ecma
    International announced today the completion of their
    co-development work to issue an industry standard for optical
    media archive life testing that targets recordable and
    rewritable DVDs. This standard will enable the industry to offer
    reliable archival-grade optical discs to help end-users select
    the media life expectancy best suited to their application
    requirements. The new standard was approved by the Ecma General
    Assembly on June 28, 2007, culminating an effort initiated in
    June 2006 in Sapporo, Japan, when Ecma International's Technical
    Committee TC31 agreed to finalize a draft standard developed by
    various industry participants working within OSTA.

    The document has been assigned the number ECMA-379, and may be
    accessed at the Ecma website for immediate review. Following
    this milestone, the standard will be transferred to ISO/IEC JTC
    1 SC23 under an established "fast track procedure". The earliest
    anticipated ISO/IEC version is December 2007.

       "We announced this collaboration a year ago. The rapid
        completion of this program can be attributed to the sense of
        urgency within the optical storage community," said David
        Bunzel, President of the Optical Storage Technology
        Association. "End users need reliable media for secure,
        removable, portable storage of their important documents.
        Industry wide implementation of this standard will greatly
        assist them in their purchase decisions."

       "Ecma is very pleased to have facilitated this standard
        development designed to assist the market in clarifying
        differences in optical media quality," said Istvan
        Sebestyen, Ecma Secretary General. "The TC31 committee was
        formed in 1983 having its charter as the development of
        `Optical Disk and Disk Cartridge' standards and has since
        been the preferred venue for this activity. Virtually all of
        the CD and DVD read only and recordable/rewritable standards
        have been developed in TC31. Its members are the primary
        players in optical technology development and therefore it
        was an ideal place for the development of this media
        archival life test."

    Manufacturers sponsoring and participating in the development of
    this standard included Fujifilm, Hewlett-Packard, Imation,
    MAM-A, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Ricoh, Sony, Toshiba, and
    Verbatim. The committee received strong support from related
    industry organizations, including Japan's CDs21 Solutions and
    the Digital Content Association (DCAj). Significant expert
    technical contributions were made by the editing team that
    included Drs. Mitsuru Irie (Osaka Sangyo U) and Kunimaro Tanaka
    (Teikyo Heisei U) under programs sponsored by CDs21 and DCAj,
    respectively.

       "We at CDs21 Solutions feel fortunate that we were able to
        take part in this effort, where we were able to contribute
        our resources to the Ecma document with OSTA," said Takao
        Ihashi, Chairman of the Steering Committee of CDs21
        Solutions. "Media life expectancy was also a main project at
        CDs21, where many active members were those who brought
        recordable optical discs to market, and were determined to
        establish a standard for enhancing the value of optical
        media for all end users, and therefore the timing of our
        collaboration was perfect."

    Fred Byers of the National Institute of Standards and Technology
    (NIST) had this to say: "As a long time proponent of this
    development and an early contributor to the document, I am very
    pleased with the outcome. Optical disc applications are
    increasingly oriented towards long-life storage of computer and
    A/V data and this standard will help ensure that tested media
    will meet expectations."

       "I3A believes that archiving of digital images is an
        underestimated issue for the global imaging industry," said
        I3A's President Lisa Walker.  "We are very supportive of
        this proposal for a joint OSTA-Ecma standard for optical
        disc archive testing, which fulfills a critical consumer
        need to identify archive quality media to store their
        precious memories for the long term."

    Victor McCrary, member of the National Digital Strategy Advisory
    Board (NDSAB) for the Library of Congress and Business Executive
    for Science & Technology at the Johns Hopkins University Applied
    Physics Laboratory states,

       "this effort is an excellent example of government, industry,
        and academia working together to address the need for
        archival standards for optical media. Preservation of `born
        digital' media is of the utmost concern for many of the
        parties involved in the development of this standard. I
        commend all involved for taking this important step in
        taking seriously the emerging global issue of digital
        preservation as its affects end-users at every level."

    Since its formation in Sept. 2005, OSTA's Optical Disc Archival
    Testing (ODAT) Committee has consisted of a multi-national group
    of industry experts sharing this common goal. The ODAT Committee
    includes members of global manufacturers and representatives of
    optical storage products, university and government.

    The Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA) was
    incorporated as an international trade association in 1992 to
    promote the use of recordable optical technologies and products.
    The organization's membership includes optical product
    manufacturers and resellers from three continents, representing
    more than 85 percent of worldwide writable optical product
    shipments. They work to shape the future of the industry through
    regular meetings of DVD Compatibility, Commercial Optical
    Storage Applications (COSA), MPV, ODAT and UDF committees.
    Interested companies worldwide are invited to join the
    organization and participate in its programs by contacting an
    OSTA representative at 408-253-3695, by fax at 408-253-9938,
    or at <URL:http://www.osta.org>.

    About Ecma International: Since its inception in 1961, Ecma
    International (Ecma) has developed standards for Information and
    Communication Technology (ICT) and Consumer Electronics (CE).
    Ecma is a non-profit industry association of technology
    developers, vendors and users. Experts from industry and other
    organizations work together at Ecma to develop standards. Ecma
    submits its work for approval as ISO, IEC, ISO/IEC and ETSI
    standards and is the inventor and main practitioner of "fast
    tracking" of specifications through the standardisation process
    in International Standards Organisations (ISOs) such as the ISO
    and the IEC. Publications can be downloaded free of charge at
    URL:http://www.ecma-international.org/>.


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 21:14
                   Distributed: Tuesday, July 3, 2007
                       Message Id: cdl-21-14-003
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