The movie and music industries on Friday said they have joined the Internet2 consortium in order to work with researchers on new digital rights management technologies for protecting electronic content.

Internet2, an ultra-high-speed private network designed primarily for research, is a test bed for new technologies developed together by researchers from universities, government and industry.

The Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America have joined the Internet2 consortium as corporate members. The industry groups representing all the major entertainment companies are interested in those working groups within Internet2 that are developing technologies for content distribution and digital rights management.

The MPAA and RIAA are also interested in studying the high-performance network to figure out future business models around the distribution of digital movies and music.

The MPAA was not immediately available for comment, and the RIAA declined to discuss whether there was any particular technology under development at Internet2 that the group found interesting.

"At this point it would be premature to go beyond (the announcement) as to where the RIAA's membership (in Internet2) might lead," a spokeswoman said.

Dan Glickman, president of the MPAA, said in a statement that the movie industry was committed to working with the technology sector on DRM research.

"The MPAA views this partnership with Internet2 as an important opportunity for collaboration as we seek to link new delivery models with content protection," Glickman said.

Future DRM technology approved by the MPAA and RIAA would carry a lot of weight among software makers and electronics manufacturers building products to deliver digital entertainment to consumers. Internet2 is a private network that differs from the public Internet in that it was designed to deliver full-motion video and 3D animations.

While some schools use it for classroom instruction, Internet2 is primarily used in developing technology that won't be ready for commercial use for three to 10 years, Lauren Kallens, spokeswoman for the group, said. Companies join the consortium in order to stay abreast of ongoing research.

"We give our corporate members a view into the future," Kallens said.