In the US, the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) is lobbying the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), to allow them to use a new piece of anti-piracy technology, which they want to implement before they roll out a new way to watch movies. Variety reports that their plan is to offer films that are still at the cinema to people in their homes, which will be beamed or downloaded straight to your TV, but at a higher price-point than normal. You’d pay a fortune for a single viewing, but you wouldn’t have to load you and the family up and specifically go to a cinema.
Understandably, cinema owners are up in arms about the plans, seeing it as a massive threat to their business, so they’re lobbying against it. They are already concerned about the shrinking gap between cinema releases and DVD releases (which has gone from around seven to fourth months) and see the MPAA’s new plan as a further undermining of their position as the first stop for movie lovers.
However it’s not just cinema owners who are upset, as several civil liberties bodies are worried about the anti-piracy tech that the MPAA wants approved before it starts offering films this way. The anti-piracy device could be built into various home entertainment devices and will essentially monitor what you’re watching and if it believes you’re viewing pirated material, it will shut the whole thing down.
The studios like it because it seems like the ultimate protection, but the problem many have is that it basically hands someone control of your TV or DVR, and they essentially get to decide what you can and can’t watch. As things stand, there’s little news on how the device would work, but it’s difficult not to see this affecting a lot of completely legitimate viewing. The tech would also only be available to licensees, giving the MPAA a lot of control over what innovations happen and what new homes entertainment devices can and can’t come out (as it would need to be compatible with this system). At the moment the whole thing is in the planning stages and the FCC would need to approve the anti-piracy tech before the MPAA can roll it out in the US.
Although giving movies to people early would be an increase in consumer choice, and you can understand the studio want to protect any content they deliver this way, their anti-piracy solution does sound rather big brother-ish and will face a big fight from several direction.