FCC Pushing For Better Piracy Controls
Federal regulators are endorsing the efforts of Hollywood by allowing cable and satellite TV companies to turn off output connections on the back of set-top boxes to help prevent pirating.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced its decision on Friday, which is intended to encourage studios to make movies available for home viewing on demand soon after they hit theaters.
Bob Pisano, head of the Motion Picture Association of America, told the Associated Press (AP) the FCC’s action would allow consumers "far greater access to see recent high-definition movies in their homes."
However, critics say the FCC order could prevent 20 million Americans with older, analog TVs from seeing these new-release movies completely. That is because the order will allow studios to limit delivery of new movies only to those households that have newer digital sets.
Critics also say that the technology could prohibit legal recordings on some video recorders and other devices with analog connections.
"We are unsure when the FCC has ever before given private entities the right to disable consumers’ products in their homes," the Consumer Electronics Association said in a statement. "The fact that the motion picture studios want to create a new business model does not mean that functioning products should be disabled by them."
A public interest group known as Public Knowledge told AP that the FCC "has succumbed to the special-interest pleadings of the big media companies."
The FCC prohibits the use of "selectable output control" technology, which encodes video programming with a signal to remotely disable a set-top box’s output connections.Â
Allowing movie studios to prevent recording from a TV could set in motion the ability for movies to be released to homes sooner than they are today. According to the FCC, the waiver is in favor of the public, because studios are unlikely to offer new movies so soon after theatrical release without these kinds of controls.
Companies like Walt Disney Co. have been attempting to shorten the time between theatrical and home video releases to try and beat piracy to the punch. With DVD sales declining, studios are trying to find new ways to bring their movies to consumers securely while still making money.
The agency said that its waiver includes several important conditions, such as limits on how long studios can use the block technology. The FCC said the technology cannot be used on a particular movie once it is out on DVD or Blu-Ray, or after 90 days from the time it’s first used on that movie.
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