"
With a standardized file format, of which Adobe hopes DNG will become, the issue of compatibility would be put to rest, and the software developers could put their resources into their applications feature wise rather than having to come up with RAW support for the latest digital cameras. What DNG does is it takes all of the different RAW file formats that are currently being produced by the many digital cameras that are in use and attempts to unify them into a format that can be easily read by applications that support the DNG specification. Adobe has also built DNG with the camera manufacturers in mind, enabling them to add their own proprietary metadata fields to the specification without harming the specification's intent, which currently is being advocated as an open standard. The specification is posted on Adobe's website and is currently "free of any legal restrictions or royalties," which would enable the digital imaging community to incorporate the DNG specification into their digital cameras, printers, and software applications. To get a better idea of the DNG specification, DMN senior editor John Virata spoke via email with Kevin Conner, senior director of product management at Adobe Systems. At the time of this writing, Conner was at the Photokina trade show in Germany. "
Even though it really isn't a deep interview, you'll be sure to learn some more about DNG and how Adobe envisions the format will be used including who will control the format and if any royalties will be associated with using it.