RECIPROCAL, NETPD FORM PARTNERSHIP

Digital rights management company Reciprocal and British consulting firm NetPD Wednesday (5/30) announced an alliance allowing NetPD's copyright protection services to be promoted and sold by Reciprocal to copyright owners in publishing, software and media. The partnership is intended to foster digital commerce and revenue, while combating copyright infringement problems.

Under the agreement, Reciprocal will provide clients with copyright monitoring and control services complimentary to the company's existing service, while NetPD gains access to a large global sales force.

"We selected NetPD after a thorough verification of their capability," said Reciprocal President and CEO John Schwarz. "In a 72-hour period, NetPD found an incredible 600,000-plus illegal copies of copyright protected files from a list that we had provided to them, spanning music, publishing and software products—and they didn’t even use Napster!"

NetPD’s "search, identify and removal" technology has the ability to address web and FTP sites, as well as all major online communities. The company hopes to expand into the real world where it plans to "search, identify and remove" the scum from the streets, just like Travis Bickle.

"We're pleased to partner with Reciprocal, a respected leader in the digital distribution services market," said NetPD CEO Jim Stoddart. "We look forward to working closely with Reciprocal in the months to come to capture the majority of the market for copyright monitoring and protection services, in the music and other industries impacted by unauthorized distribution."

Reciprocal and NetPD already have several major clients in common, such as Sony Music, Zomba Records and TVT Records. The companies have also expanded to include game software, and are already eyeing the Super Mario Brothers for suspicious behavior.