FCC Rejects MPAA Anti-Piracy Effort

FCC chairman Kevin Martin says he does not support a bid by the MPAA to control movie piracy in the home by encrypting digital output on cable or satellite receivers.

In the waning days of the Bush administration, FCC chairman Kevin Martin said he did not support a bid by the Motion Picture Association to control movie piracy in the home by encrypting digital output on cable or satellite receivers. The technique rejected by Martin is called "selectable output control." The MPAA sought permission to use it on a new service for on-demand movies to be offered by cable and satellite operators, ahead of movies’ release on DVD. Studios sought to close an "analog hole," to make it harder to create perfect digital copies of films, but it also would prevent consumers with older TV sets from using the new service,says the Los Angeles Times. The MPAA can argue with Martin’s replacement, who is expected to be named soon. 

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