US: Hollywood can disable TV set features

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Richard Forno <rforno () infowarrior org>
> Date: May 7, 2010 5:35:41 PM EDT
> To: List Infowarrior <infowarrior () attrition org>
> Cc: Farber Dave <dave () farber net>
> Subject: US: Hollywood can disable TV set features

> Film Studios Allowed by U.S. to Use Anti-Piracy Technology on TV  
> Equipment
>
> By Todd Shields - May 07, 2010
>
> http://preview.bloomberg.com/news/2010-05-07/film-studios-said-to-be-allowed-to-use-anti-piracy-technology-on-tv-sets.html
>
> The film industry can block outputs on home television equipment so  
> studios can offer first-run movies while preventing viewers from  
> making illicit copies, U.S. regulators said.
>
> Temporarily disabling the outputs will “enable a new business  
> model” that wouldn’t develop in the absence of such anti-piracy  
> protection, the Federal Communications Commission said today in an o 
> rder.
>
> Home viewing of recently released movies over cable and satellite  
> systems would provide revenue for studios such as Viacom Inc.’s Para 
> mount Pictures and Sony Corp.’s film division, which have seen DVD s 
> ales drop as more people get films through Internet, mail-order and  
> kiosk rental services. The advocacy group Public Knowledge is among  
> opponents who say the plan interferes with viewer choice.
>
> The FCC order “‘will allow the big firms for the first time to  
> take control of a consumer’s TV set or set-top box, blocking viewing 
>  of a TV program or motion picture,” Gigi Sohn, president of Washing 
> ton-based Public Knowledge, said in a statement.
>
> The Motion Picture Association of America asked the FCC in 2008 for  
> a waiver from rules against disabling video outputs so that its  
> members could send movies over cable and satellite services using “s 
> ecure and protected digital outputs,” according to the trade  
> group’s petition at the agency.
>
> “This action is an important victory for consumers who will now have 
>  far greater access to see recent high-definition movies in their ho 
> mes,” Bob Pisano, president and interim chief executive officer of t 
> he MPAA, said today in a statement. “It is a major step forward in t 
> he development of new business models by the motion picture industry 
>  to respond to growing consumer demand.”
>
> The Washington-based MPAA represents Paramount Pictures, Sony’s film 
>  unit, News Corp.’s Twentieth Century Fox, General Electric Co.’s  
> NBC Universal, Walt Disney Co. and Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros. P 
> ictures.
>
> To contact the reporter on this story: Todd Shields in Washington at tshields3 () bloomberg net



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