Grant Gross
Senior Writer

MCI to acquire digital media software from TWI

news
Apr 19, 20052 mins

MCI forms Digital Media Technologies group focused on digital media products

MCI will acquire Interactive Content Factory (ICF) and its digital video editing software under an agreement with TWI and its parent company IMG Worldwide, the companies announced Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday, MCI announced it has formed a new Digital Media Technologies group, focused on digital media products for media, entertainment, and gaming organizations.

The terms of the ICF deal were not disclosed.

With ICF, MCI will acquire a package of digital video editing software, including ICF Media Platform, for the management, production, and delivery of digital content, and ICF NetEdit, for Windows Media editing over IP (Internet Protocol) networks. Most of ICF’s major customers are European companies, including British Telecommunication and Telecom Italia.

MCI will market ICF products in the U.S. and worldwide after the deal is completed within the next year, said MCI spokeswoman Natasha Haubold. “We are seeing a lot of interest from U.S.- based customers as well,” she said.

MCI intends to combine ICF’s capabilities with its own managed, voice, data, and IP-based products, and package the products to broadcast, entertainment, news, gaming, and sports broadcasting industries.

MCI said it will develop a hosted version of ICF Media Platform that will manage media distribution and syndication, including copyright and music rights management. MCI will also host software, editing tools, and enable customers to access, edit, and distribute digital content from any Web-enabled device.

“We are seeing a great interest in the editing capabilities,” Haubold said. “[Users] can film something, edit it and send it out very quickly and easily.”

As part of the agreement, MCI, IMG, and TWI have formed a joint development fund for digital content and distribution. The joint development board will evaluate investment opportunities that could lead to digital media applications and software improvements.

Grant Gross

Grant Gross, a senior writer at CIO, is a long-time IT journalist who has focused on AI, enterprise technology, and tech policy. He previously served as Washington, D.C., correspondent and later senior editor at IDG News Service. Earlier in his career, he was managing editor at Linux.com and news editor at tech careers site Techies.com. As a tech policy expert, he has appeared on C-SPAN and the giant NTN24 Spanish-language cable news network. In the distant past, he worked as a reporter and editor at newspapers in Minnesota and the Dakotas. A finalist for Best Range of Work by a Single Author for both the Eddie Awards and the Neal Awards, Grant was recently recognized with an ASBPE Regional Silver award for his article “Agentic AI: Decisive, operational AI arrives in business.”

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