Media Wonk




User Profile

Paul Sweeting

Paul Sweeting is the editor of ContentAgenda.com and a columnist for Video Business. He has covered the home entertainment industries since 1985 for Billboard, Variety, Publishers Weekly and other leading business publications. He is based in Washington, DC.


User Stats

  • Recent Posts: 9
  • Avg Posts Per Week: 4
  • Posts Written: 453

RSS Feed

  • Add this blog to your RSS newsreader!

Recent Comments

Most Commented On

Archives

By Hot Topic

Blog
Paul Sweeting

Paul Sweeting, Media Wonk
ContentAgenda

Link This | Email this | Comments (2)


It's deadline day for MPAA SOC petition - July 21, 2008

Today is the (revised) deadline for filing comments with the FCC regarding the MPAA's petition for a waiver of rules restricting the use of selectable output controls on set-top boxes. A number of key interest groups have yet to be heard from but are expected to file comments opposing the MPAA's request before the day is out, including the National Assn. of Theatre Owners and the Consumer Electronics Assn. Both were making the rounds of the commissioners' offices last week to explain their opposition, according the ex parte record.

NATO had asked the FCC to extend its original expedited deadline for filing comments to today so that potential opponents of the request could have more time to study the issue. A senior CEA official told Media Wonk last month that the association would oppose the MPAA's request on the grounds that the use of SOC could deprive consumers of their legitimate home recording rights.

In its petition, the MPAA said its member studios would like to offer high-def movies via video-on-demand immediately following their theatrical run and ahead of their release on DVD and Blu-ray Disc. They could only do so, however, the MPAA said, if cable operators are allowed to turn off the analog outputs on set-top boxes to prevent the VOD transmissions from being recorded and digitally re-encoded without copy-protection encryption. The FCC barred the use of such "selectable output control" in 2003 on the grounds that it could interfere with legitimate private home recording of television programming.

More later as the final comments come in.


[Digital Home]  [Regulation & Legislation]   LEAVE A COMMENT
POST A COMMENT
Display Name or Registered Bloggers Login Here.

Before submitting this form, please type the characters displayed above:


Tom Paine
July 21, 2008
Response to:
It's deadline day for MPAA SOC petition

So you setup a high quality video camera in front of your big HD TV, wire in to the digital audio, and have DVDs on the street the next day. All in the privacy of your own home without any MPAA guys snooping around.




Media Wonk
July 21, 2008
Response to:
It's deadline day for MPAA SOC petition

Except that the content will almost certainly watermarked. At a minimum, the studios would be able to trace street copies back to the cable system where they originated, and possibly to the individual stream associated with a particular VOD purchase.