Movie Studios Win Drive to Disable TV Features, Offer New Films

May 08, 2010, 12:03 AM EDT
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By Todd Shields
May 8 (Bloomberg) -- Movie studios won U.S. permission to disable features on television equipment to prevent copying of films, clearing the way to send first-run films to consumers in their homes.
Temporarily restricting TVs and the set-top boxes used for cable service will “enable a new business model” that wouldn’t develop without such anti-piracy protection, the Federal Communications Commission said yesterday in an order.
Home viewing of recently released movies over cable and satellite systems would provide revenue for studios such as Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures and Sony Corp.’s film division, which have seen DVD sales 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 Washington-based Public Knowledge, said in a statement.
The Consumer Electronics Association, the Arlington, Virginia-based trade group for manufacturers including LG Electronics USA and Samsung Electronics, said that studios’ wish for a new business “does not mean that functioning products should be disabled by them.”
The Motion Picture Association of America in 2008 sought an FCC waiver from rules against disabling video outputs so that its members could send movies over cable and satellite services using “secure and protected digital outputs,” according to the trade group’s petition at the agency.
‘Important Victory’
“This action is an important victory for consumers who will now have far greater access to see recent high-definition movies in their homes,” Bob Pisano, president and interim chief executive officer of the MPAA, said yesterday in a statement. “It is a major step forward in the development of new business models by the motion picture industry to respond to growing consumer demand.”
The FCC yesterday said companies could block outputs for a film for 90 days, and said it would review use of the technology after two years.
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. Pictures.
--Editors: Larry Liebert, Steve Geimann