By Eydie Cubarrubia

Brian Baker says he can put an end to all the squabbling over who will control the distribution of digital media content.

That’s because Mr. Baker, CEO of Seattle, Washington–based Widevine, has developed an alternative digital rights management system that isn’t tied to any specific device or software. His approach is a dramatic departure from the strategies of technology giants such as Apple and Microsoft, which are fighting to lock in content creators and consumers to their proprietary copyright protection software.

“We’re very unique in the market in that we don’t have a vested interest in a device, or a vested interest in an operating system, or a vested interest in a format,” said Mr. Baker, whose private company is funded by Cisco.

Widevine’s has emerged in the thick of a heated debate over the merits of DRM. A growing chorus of critics, including Apple CEO Steve Jobs (see Dear Mr. Jobs and Mr. Gates, Steve Jobs Changes His Tune), have argued that DRM only confuses and irritates consumers, making them less likely to buy digital content over the internet.

Record and movie companies, on the other hand, insist that DRM is necessary to prevent widespread digital piracy. But entertainment groups also fear they have ceded too much control over the distribution of their content to Apple, which dominates the digital music market with its best selling iPod music player and wildly popular iTunes internet music store.

Mr. Baker said his company’s technology could break the stranglehold certain companies have in different markets—such as Apple in the digital music realm or Scientific Atlantic in the set-top box segment. But there is no evidence yet that Widevine will be able to do so.

Widevine’s technology works in two steps: it encrypts digital content and then creates a virtual key with which consumers can unlock scrambled movies or music files once they have bought and downloaded them from the internet. By providing the virtual key online, content creators and distributors can in theory sell their movies or music to all consumers, regardless of the type of computers or digital music players they own.

Still, there is little likelihood that Apple or Microsoft would be inclined to adopt a rival DRM standard for use on their digital music services, each of which sells copyright protected tracks and movies designed to play only on their proprietary digital media players.

What’s more, at least one industry observer thinks that the DRM issue is so alienating to consumers that it will eventually be made obsolete. “Information wants to be free,” said VC Fred Wilson, who sees relevant consumer advertising becoming the way the music industry makes money from downloads (see DRM Is Dead).

But others saw possibilities for Widevine. John Branch, principal at IP law firm Darby & Darby, praised Widevine’s technology as “unique IP innovations” compared to other protection solutions.

And Mr. Baker said that because the company already has the trust of visual content owners—Widevine products have long been used in cable or satellite on-demand networks—it could entice the video industry to join in.

“Three of five major TV networks are already using this technology,” Mr. Baker said.