CEA Welcomes Studio Content Announcement

Copy Protection Agreement Between Electronics Manufacturers And Studios Will Advance Digital TV Transition

23-Jul-01

Praising the agreement reached by Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Brothers and the Digital Transmission Licensing Administrator, LLC (DTLA or 5C) with regard to digital transmission and display of motion pictures, Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) President and CEO Gary Shapiro called the copy protection for content licensing arrangement ""a laudable achievement that will benefit the digital television transition and American consumers."" The licensing agreements will allow copy-protected studio content to be carried over cable under copyright terms agreed upon with the studios. Made up of electronics manufacturers Hitachi, Intel Corp., Matsushita Electric Industrial, Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp., the DTLA or 5C was formed in 1998 to license DTCP encryption technology for content protection in home networks. Adoption of 5C's DTCP technology by Sony and Warner is an ""important step towards providing high quality content for digital television viewers,"" said Shapiro. ""The consumer electronics industry's development of 5C shows that we take the concerns of the content industry seriously. At the same time, as studios move forward to utilize 5C, we call on them to ensure that Americans' normal and customary fair use rights are preserved in the digital age."" ""With consumers and the DTV phenomenon, seeing is believing,"" Shapiro said. ""To date consumers have had far too little over-the-air content to enjoy on their digital televisions. While the copy protection concerns of the studios are significant, this announcement clearly demonstrates that content providers and manufacturers can work together and agree on technological means to honor artists' rights while delivering the promise of DTV to consumers.""We call on the remaining major studios to follow the lead of Sony and Warner to help move the DTV transition forward.""For more information about the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), visit www.ce.org.

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