Time Warner Cable Goes Abroad for Java

Time Warner Cable has tapped Zurich, Switzerland-based Esmertec AG to provide it with a Java virtual machine for the MSO's OCAP (OpenCable Application Platform) efforts.

Esmertec said it will provide the MSO with its "Jbed" Java virtual machine, which is being used in mobile phones and other embedded devices. Time Warner Cable plans to use Java applications for interactive-TV applications under the OCAP framework.

The MSO's corporate parent, Time Warner Inc., also purchased an undisclosed stake in ContentGuard Inc., a Bethesda, Md.-based digital-rights-management-software company.

Time Warner Inc. and Microsoft Corp. now have majority control of ContentGuard.