CEA Applauds Introduction Of Family Movie Act; Legislation Supports Technology By Protecting Legitimacy Of Digital Content Filters

22-Jun-04

The following statement was issued today by Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) President and CEO Gary Shapiro regarding the introduction of the Family Movie Act (H.R. 4586) by Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX), ìCEA commends Chairman Smith for making it clear that digital content filters such as Clearplay are legitimate legal products that do not in and of themselves violate copyright law. H.R. 4586 stands as an important step toward restoring balance to our nation's copyright laws so that consumers can enjoy reasonable rights to view content they have lawfully acquired how, where, and when they wish. The content community's lawsuit against Clearplay is another outrageous overreach that has little to do with legitimate concerns about piracy and everything to do with restricting ordinary consumer conduct.îìIt is remarkably presumptuous and offensive for media giants to tell families that they are not allowed in the privacy of their own homes to skip offensive parts of DVDs that they own. Unfortunately, even if this bill passes, movie studios could encrypt DVDs to stop Clearplay and similar technology from working, in the same way that consumers are now prevented from fast-forwarding through the commercials at the beginning of a film. That is why it is essential that the Congress also pass HR 107, the Digital Media Consumers Rights Act, to preserve consumers' rights to decrypt for fair use purposes such as skipping offensive content.îCEA's resources are available online at www.CE.org.

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