Mary Wehmeier's Blog Du Jour

Internet Radio - Webcasting
Webcasting - Internet Radio: news and information on broadcasting over the web.

Thursday, April 25, 2002

Philips Electronics Weighs in on CBDTPA and DCMA

Did I tell you the other day about companies not agreeing on standards? Yep right here.

Today the rubber-met-the-road in the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, where they are held hearing on "Ensuring Content Protection in the Digital Age." The invitations list of people testifying read like a who's who* (below) of the rich and powerful insiders within the Entertainment, Internet, and Technology Industries. [Too bad I didn't get invited. I would have loved to given the Committee a piece of my mind from the standpoint of the educated consumer. ]

However it appears we may have a champion on our side. Today appearing at the hearing, Philips Consumer Electronics North America, President and CEO Lawrence Blanford testified that something's rotten in Hollywood. Blanford explained to the Committee in plain language about the problems being created by the 5C Group who are working together to create Digital Content Protection System for digital video and audio. Blanford representing Philips and customers everywhere, explained that if the current standards being created by the 5C Group were allowed to become a standard in order to support the DMCA and other intellectual property laws, "the customer would suffer by having to replace their DVD players in order to watch digital TV programs they have all ready recorded."

In a copy of his prepared statement before the Committee, I received today, Blanford went even further to explain that the Broadcast Protection Discussion Group (AKA the 5C Group made up of Hitachi, Intel, Matsushita (Panasonic & JVC,) Sony and Toshiba are planning an expensive, proprietary encryption program that will interface individually and within the proposed IEEE 1394 (Firewire) home-network standard to block the consumers ability to copy any video or audio program they may wish to use later. Blanford stated:

"Because this proposal would require encryption in the home of free over-the-air digital television broadcasts, and because this proposal would place in the hands of a few companies control of all consumer electronics devices through private, contractual licensing arrangements, Philips believes that the current direction is seriously flawed."

Just lovely. So now we have the big companies cavorting in some engineering study groups deciding how WE the consumer will get to enjoy our soap operas and reruns of MASH, ER and Sesame Street or music after we come home from a long day at work. Flipping lovely. This is all because groups like RIAA and the DMCA have been allowed to run without a bridle.

Clue to Congress: Wait until women who record their soap operas everyday, so they can watch them when they get home from work, figure out this new technology is going to make that impossible. Remember women vote in larger percentages than men. Can you say ticked off voters? Uh huh.

While Blanford admits in testimony that the Philips understands the necessity to balance the the rights between copy holder and the customer. (Philips actually has some of the best broadcast equipment in the business.) Philips has also worked to create a standard which prohibits the direct illegal copying of video tapes through their "Serial Copy Management System," as well as several "watermarking protocols." However Blanford also explained that despite the millions of dollars of development costs involved: Philips gave the "Serial Copy Management System," away for FREE to other companies for the asking.

Blanford continued his comments by also explaining to the committee that Philips supports:

"Consumers’ fair use rights must be preserved in any technical or public policy solutions to digital age challenges
Backward compatibility has been the backbone of the consumer electronics industries’ product designs.
Consumers react negatively and very strongly when their expectations for fair use and ease of use are not met.
Ever increasing levels of complexity in consumers’ devices will render products increasingly unreliable, more expensive and will constrain consumer activities.
User Friendliness is a hallmark of CE (Consumer Electronics) products."

Blanford believes that the customer "should not bear the costs, in dollar terms and in terms of technological complexity, when there are much simpler solutions to the agreed upon problem—the prospect of Internet redistribution of digital terrestrial broadcasts."

Amazing. Someone's actually talking common sense here.

What the working groups have been proposing is that the digital television signal would have to carry a special code (or tone) within the upper data section of the transmission that would, no must be decoded, in order for people to be able to use. (For those of you inside the 'Biz, they want to encode more into the all ready crammed "front porch" of the signal. Nice huh? My question is WHERE?) The other group wants to encrypt it once inside the home, makes it impossible to copy or move without permission. And probably a fee. They are all forgetting "fair use."

As you can see none of the companies are really agreeing on what's the right thing to do-- or not do. However, it's comforting to know that Ken Blanford and Philips are on the customer's side on this issue. I just might go buy a Philips DVD player.

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* Invitation to testify was also given to: Dr. Paul F. Liao - Chief Technology Officer, Panasonic/Matshushita Electric Corporation of America, Mr. Richard Parsons - Co-Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Richard Parsons Co-Chief Operating Officer, AOL Time Warner Inc., Mr. Larry Jacobson - President and Chief Operating Officer, RealNetworks, Mr. Joe Kraus - Co-founder Digitalconsumer.org, Mr. Peter Chernin - President and Chief Operating Officer of NewsCorporation, Mr. Assaf Litai - Founder and Acting CEO Vidius.

Copies of all the transcripts andthe real audio file will be here shortly.

2:59:40 PM