Meet Vamsi Sislta

Today I had the privilege to speak with Vamsi Sistla, who will be joining us for the Future of Telecommunications Panel.

Here is Vamsi's Bio--below please find more about our conversation:

Vamsi Sistla, Director, Mobile Entertainment, TV Guide

Vamsi Sistla has 15 years of experience in industries spanning from media & entertainment, cable television, interactive TV, video on demand, online digital media, technology market research and mobile platforms.

Vamsi is currently director of mobile entertainment at TV Guide where he manages mobile products, operations and engineering resources. Vamsi works closely with leading mobile operators such as Verizon, Cingular (AT&T), Sprint and Amped to deploy mobile entertainment products such a streaming video, video guidance, SMS, remote recording and other advanced interactive features. Vamsi liaises with mobile vendors and partners as part of his daily duties. In the past Vamsi provided advisory services to leading technology & media companies on their product strategy and in dealing with disruption of innovation.

Vamsi graduated from Oakland University with a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1995 and currently enrolled in Advanced Project Management program with Stanford University.

We spoke briefly about the future of DRM, and how one of the problems with it is that once somebody purchases a song or movie, what happens if the device maker or DRM provider goes out of business? Then the media will no longer be playable, and one will have to buy it again.

For instance, what if itunes went under, or someday, in the far future, just decided to call it quits? I know many people who have spent thousands upon thousands of dollars on itunes songs--no longer would they be able to play that content, nor pass it along, as one can with a CD or DVD or VHS tape, or even mp3s.

The first to solve this problem of longetivity and durable licensing will be ahead of the pack.

Vamsi will join us on The Future of Telecommunications panel: "With access to film, television, music, electronic games and the internet, the convergence of the new media industries is graphically illustrated in the content available through mobile phones and other hand held devices."

Again--the whole question of DRM comes into play here. If I like a certain song, will I have to buy it for my ipod, my cell phone, my car, and my cd player? Ineroperable DRM, or the development of some other system, would rock. Come hear what leading experts have to say about all this.

More soon!