[Infowarrior] - MPAA wants to stop DVRs from recording some movies

[Richard Forno]

MPAA wants to stop DVRs from recording some movies

By Matthew Lasar | Published: June 08, 2008 - 08:01PM CT

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080608-mpaa-wants-to-stop-dvrs-from-recording-some-movies.html

At the request of theatrical film makers, the Federal Communications  
Commission on Friday quietly launched a proceeding on whether to let  
video program distributors remotely block consumers from recording  
recently released movies on their DVRs. The technology that does this  
is called Selectable Output Control (SOC), but the FCC restricts its  
use. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) wants a waiver  
on that restriction in the case of high-definition movies broadcast  
prior to their release as DVDs.

"The Petitioners' theatrical movies are too valuable in this early  
distribution window to risk their exposure to unauthorized copying,"  
MPAA wrote to the FCC last month. "Distribution over insecure outputs  
would facilitate the illegal copying and redistribution of this high  
value content, causing untold damage to the DVD and other 'downstream'  
markets." Less than a month after the request, the FCC has given MPAA  
a public comment period on the question that will last through July 7.
Expedited distribution—with one, big caveat

MPAA has pressed its Petition for Expedited Special Relief on behalf  
of Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal  
City Studios Walt Disney Studios, and Warner Brothers. How did these  
media companies get an FCC proceeding so fast? Ars bets that hiring  
former FCC Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy as their attorney  
helped. Abernathy supported former FCC Chair Michael Powell's drastic  
relaxation of the agency's media ownership rules in 2003, along with  
Kevin Martin, now head of the agency.

Movies go through a timeline of staged releases that lasts about three  
years. First they go to theaters; 60 days after that they start  
showing up in airplanes and hotels; in 120 days from their theatrical  
release they transfer to DVD and Internet download; about a month  
later to video on demand/pay-per-view; by the end of the year to  
premium subscription systems like HBO and Showtime; and eventually to  
basic cable and free TV.

MPAA says these studios want to release their movies to multichannel  
video programming distributors (MVPDs) "significantly earlier and  
prior to DVD release"—although the trade groups' filing won't say  
exactly how much sooner. But in exchange for the accelerated service,  
MPAA wants permission to obtain SOC blocking of recording  
capabilities. The group promises that once said movies have reached  
the home video sale/rental stage, the blocking will stop.

The movie lobby wants a waiver from FCC rules prohibiting MVPDs from  
adding code to digital video streams, that, among other restrictions,  
could block copying. Here is the rule: "A covered entity shall not  
attach or embed data or information with commercial audiovisual  
content, or otherwise apply to, associate with, or allow such data to  
persist in or remain associated with such content, so as to prevent  
its output through any analog or digital output authorized or  
permitted under license, law or regulation governing such covered  
product."

MPPA notes that the Commission did say in 2003 that it would consider  
adjusting this policy around SOC. "We nonetheless recognize that  
selectable output control functionality might have future applications  
that could potentially be advantageous to consumers," MPAA observes  
that the FCC declared in a late 2003 Report and Order, "such as  
facilitating new business models."
We're here to help

MPAA argues that, in addition to getting first-run movies to the  
public sooner, giving movie studios a break on this issue could also  
aid the DTV transition. The enhanced service "will encourage the  
purchase of HDTV sets by consumers, and thereby ensure that a greater  
number of citizens have the necessary equipment to receive broadcast  
digital programming by February 17, 2009."

But unquoted in MPAA's petition is this passage from the same FCC  
Report and Order: "We also recognize consumers’ expectations that  
their digital televisions and other equipment will work to their full  
capabilities, and the potential harm to the DTV transition if those  
expectations are frustrated," the Commission observed. "In particular,  
we are concerned that selectable output control would harm those  
'early adopters' whose DTV equipment only has component analog inputs  
for high definition display, placing these consumers at risk of being  
completely shut off from the high-definition content they expect to  
receive."

Needless to say, this proposal is likely to get a very cold reception  
from groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). EFF already  
warns that SOC and "down resolution"—strategically lowering the level  
of digital quality—could undermine HDTV. "Many current and novel  
devices rely on unrestricted outputs, particularly component analog  
connections," EFF says.

Not surprisingly, the Home Recording Rights Coalition (HRRC) opposes  
SOC too. "In the long term, imposition of SOC could have the effect of  
driving from the market any home interface that supports home  
recording," the group observes. Fears that MPAA's proposal represents  
a foot in the door to much wider interference with consumer digital  
applications may also play a role in this discussion.

The FCC wants comments and oppositions to MPAA's proposal by June 25  
and replies to comments by July 7.