Coalition To Protect TV Content

A coalition to protect TV content recorded on the new digital video recording technology-based hard disc systems seeks the consent and/or participation of content providers before offering a service that would allow providers to profit by altering TV programming and advertising. The coalition, which includes Time Warner Inc., the Walt Disney Company, CBS Corp., Discovery Communications Inc. and News Corp., announced that the parties would protect against the potentially damaging impact of digitally manipulated television signals. The coalition is aimed at Replay and TiVo, whose set-top machines, introduced this year, allow for convenient viewing of any program at any time after it premieres and allow viewers to quickly and easily bypass commercials by skipping ahead in 30-second increments or fast-forwarding rapidly. In addition, both Replay and TiVo plan to offer their customers customized promotional video clips that can be downloaded. The targeted messages will allow advertisers to supplant a generic national commercial during a TV show for an instant-response purchase feature or a quick link to a longer video about the advertiserís product. The content providers want to ensure that they are included and participate in revenue generated by the new recording devices. In a statement, the coalition said: ""We believe that these new businesses are, and must be, subject to the copyright licensing process on which our networks are based. Those who build businesses around decompiling, excerpting or modifying them in any way must negotiate for and acquire the appropriate rights."" While the coalition is poised to take on the makers of digital TV replay services, the networks have agreed to support Replay and TiVo on some level, because those services are seen as a step toward more interactive television, a development in which the networks all want to participate.