Issue: Selectable Output Control

FCC says: No Selectable Output Control for now

J. Law — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 11:09:10 -0500

Our friends at Ars Technica are reporting that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has declined to accept the MPAA’s request to allow selectable output control flags in streaming content during his tenure.

This is an undeniable win for consumers, as potentially up to 20 million HDTVs could have suddenly stopped working for new on-demand movies had the FCC gone the other way. Some outlets, like the Mark Cuban/Steven Soderbergh collab 2929 Entertainment, and Comcast/IFC, are already using “day-date” release schedules that have simultaneous releases across theaters and on-demand.

Public Knowledge Pleased With Decision Denying Hollywood Control Over Set Top Boxes

Art Brodsky — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:56:28 -0500

For Immediate Release:

December 30, 2008

Background: FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said earlier today that the Commission will not approve during his tenure a petition by the motion picture industry to engage in “selectable output control,” also known as SOC. The MPAA and the movie studios it represents (Paramount, Sony, Fox, Universal, Disney, and Warner Brothers) asked the FCC for the ability to “turn off” any output plug they choose, like those on the back of consumer electronics devices of an entertainment system, during special video-on-demand movies on cable television.

The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:

“Consumers won a big victory today with Chairman Martin’s statement that he would not approve Hollywood’s selective output control petition.

How Hollywood Studios Promote File Trading: Delete Movies Off Digital Shelves

Alex Curtis — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:39:44 -0500

It’s gotten so easy to rent movies on the tv that my wife had actually rented one, 27 Dresses, three times. Yes, the money we’ve spent to rent this particular movie has added up to more than the cost of owning the video. No, I’m not bitter about it or anything. Earlier this week, I was helping her put some movies on the ole’ iPod so she could have some in-flight entertainment for a work trip. Of course, she wanted to have 27 Dresses again, so I said, “Can we please buy this movie once and for all?!”

Unfortunately, when I went to the iTunes Store, the movie was no where to be found—for rent or purchase. I wondered if anyone else had experienced this. I swore we rented it from iTunes, and verified it in my purchase history. The closest I could get to the movie was its soundtrack, it didn’t appear to be available on the other movie download services either.

Do 20 million HDTVs matter?

Jef Pearlman — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:32:40 -0500

Remember Selectable Output Control? It’s the issue where the MPAA petitioned the FCC for the right to turn off any and all of the outputs on your cable box — especially those pesky high definition analog connections — if they move up the Video-on-Demand (VoD) release date on movies. In our original filing opposing the petition, we cited an article which said that 11 million HDTVs currently in use have only analog inputs, and would surely be cut off by the MPAA. News Corp shot back, saying that according to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), there were only 4 million such TVs out there. Who’s right? Apparently, neither of us. Yesterday, CEA filed a letter with the FCC saying that there are over 20 million HDTVs currently in use which only have analog inputs, and if the petition were granted, would “no longer function as they did when originally purchased by U.S. consumers.”

Reflections on the 10th Anniversary of the Sonny Bono Act

Gigi Sohn — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:17:01 -0400

The 10th anniversary of the DMCA is not the only infamous 10th anniversary that Public Knowledge gets to “celebrate” this week. Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of the enactment of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998. That law extended copyright terms from 50 years after the life of an author and 70 years in the case of corporations, to 70 years beyond the life of an author and 95 years in the case of corporations. Named after Sonny Bono, the late Congressman best known for his musical and personal partnership with the performer Cher, the law has taken countless works out of the public domain, greatly weakening the wellspring of creativity and knowledge from which new creativity emerges.

Selectable Output Control (SOC) One-Pager

Webmaster — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:16:55 -0400

This one-pager provides an overview of the MPAA’s request for permission to enable selectable output control on future entertainment equipment.

DOWNLOAD the PDF»

Protecting Consumers from DRM

Noah Pepper — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:05:39 -0400

Consumer rights advocates and media companies have been fighting over digital rights management (DRM) software for many years now. In the age of the closing digital media store, the negative effects of DRM are more apparent than ever before.

Just a few days ago Yahoo! announced it would be closing its music store, taking the authentication server for its DRM offline in September. This will leave its users without access to the content they believed they bought once they: switch computers, alter their operating system, or try to copy their Yahoo! store music to an MP3 player. Luckily for Yahoo! customers the company has said it will compensate them for music they bought.

Selectable output control in a (YouTube) nutshell

J. Law — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:19:04 -0400

We just produced a two-minute video on selectable output control, entitled “Selectable Output Control: How the MPAA wants to break your TV (again)”. It’s a quick summary of what SOC is and its potential effect on home entertainment devices.

Check it out on YouTube.

Do not adjust your television. The MPAA is controlling transmission.

Jef Pearlman — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:22:02 -0400

If you’ve never seen the intro (original/new) to the TV show “The Outer Limits” then perhaps now is the time. Be sure to have the sound up:

There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission…

Perhaps if the intro was written today, it would say, “There is nothing wrong with your television set. But do not attempt to view our movies. The MPAA is controlling transmission.”

Selectable Output Control? Sounds good, but who's doing the selecting?

J. Law — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:04:32 -0400

On May 9, the MPAA filed a petition to waive the FCC’s ruling against selectable output control (SOC) (PDF). The MPAA and its studio constituents seek to allow multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) — that is, cable companies — the power to turn off the digital and analog outputs on your devices, as they choose. This includes not only cable boxes, but also anything connected to your cable signal, such as your Tivo, your Slingbox, or even a TV using CableCARD.

The MPAA and its studio constituents are interested in releasing theatrical releases to home viewers earlier than ever, possibly because box office receipts are growing at a slower rate than in the past decade. Before, release windows for video-on-demand and pay-per-view became available approximately five months after the theatrical release.