The Open Media Commons, sometimes referred to as the Open Media Commons initiative, is a computer

Computer

A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...

 industry group whose goal is to "develop open, royalty-free digital rights management

Digital rights management

Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...

 and codec

Codec

A codec is a device or computer program capable of encoding or decoding a digital data stream or signal. The word codec is a portmanteau of "compressor-decompressor" or, more commonly, "coder-decoder"...

 solutions". One of their largest supporters is Sun Microsystems

Sun Microsystems

Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...

, who released their internal digital rights management (DRM) project, Project DReaM

Project DReaM

Project DReaM is a Sun Microsystems project whose aim is to produce an "interoperable DRM architecture implementing standardized interfaces and processes for the interoperability of DRM systems". DReaM is an acronym that stands for "DRM everywhere/available"...

, as part of the Open Media Commons initiative on 22 August 2005.

Project DReaM one of several project organized through the Open Media Commons initiative:

• DRM-OPERA: An interoperable DRM architecture that is not dependent upon a specific hardware
  Computer hardware
  Personal computer hardware are component devices which are typically installed into or peripheral to a computer case to create a personal computer upon which system software is installed including a firmware interface such as a BIOS and an operating system which supports application software that...
  
   set or operating system
  Operating system
  An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
  
  .
• Java Stream Assembly: Java-based server software that allows for distribution of video
  Video
  Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
  
   over a network
  Computer network
  A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information....
  
  .
• Sun Streaming Server (SSS): Serves standards-compliant
  Standards-compliant
  Standards-compliant is a term often used in describing websites and user agents' relative compliance with web standards proposed by the World Wide Web Consortium ; also used for emphasizing that one doesn't use proprietary methods or features of those browsers to ensure interoperability...
  
   video and audio
  Sound
  Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of...
  
   media
  Digital media
  Digital media is a form of electronic media where data is stored in digital form. It can refer to the technical aspect of storage and transmission Digital media is a form of electronic media where data is stored in digital (as opposed to analog) form. It can refer to the technical aspect of...
  
   over an IP
  Internet Protocol
  The Internet Protocol is the principal communications protocol used for relaying datagrams across an internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite...
  
  -based network. Generally, SSS serves MPEG-4
  MPEG-4
  MPEG-4 is a method of defining compression of audio and visual digital data. It was introduced in late 1998 and designated a standard for a group of audio and video coding formats and related technology agreed upon by the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group under the formal standard ISO/IEC...
  
   video media. It also supports Apple Computer
  Apple Computer
  Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
  
  's QuickTime
  QuickTime
  QuickTime is an extensible proprietary multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. The classic version of QuickTime is available for Windows XP and later, as well as Mac OS X Leopard and...
  
  .
• OMS Video
  OMS Video
  OMS Video is an open, royalty-free video compression specification currently under development by Sun Microsystems's Open Media Commons as part of the Open Media Stack. It defines a video decoder and the associated bitstream syntax. It is intended for delivery, storage and playback of video...
  
  : a royalty-free codec loosely based on the H.261
  H.261
  H.261 is a ITU-T video coding standard, ratified in November 1988. It is the first member of the H.26x family of video coding standards in the domain of the ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group , and was the first video codec that was useful in practical terms.H.261 was originally designed for...
  
  with new tools & optimizations.