The bright sparks at the MPAA have asked the FCC to permit them to use technology to block the home-based recording of recently released movies on DVRs. They say that they want to allow recent releases to go to television faster, but to protect against the possibility of illegal distribution of DVDs created from those releases. ARS Technica has full details of the proposal.
While I’d love to be able to watch the latest theatrical releases from the comfort of my home, I want to do it on my terms. That includes pausing the film so that I can get a snack or have a leak, and making a recording so that I can watch it whenever I please. I haven’t watched television “live” since the Ottawa Senators were eliminated from the play-off, and I really can’t recall the last time I watched a movie live.
One really has to wonder about the MPAA’s motivations on this one. Are they (a) out of touch with how the market consumes their content today (b) pushing for this exemption in order to test the waters for other exemptions or (c) secret investors in BitTorrent?
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry make Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
