Audio Video News

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has reacted strongly to a recent federal court order that would force consumer electronics manufacturer SonicBlue to develop and install information-gathering software in its ReplayTV personal video recorders (PVRs).

On May 2, Los Angeles federal magistrate Charles Eick gave SonicBlue sixty days to design and install software to monitor consumers' use of its ReplayTV device. The information gathered would be used as evidence in a lawsuit brought against the Silicon Valley company by major television networks, who contend that the PVR's abilities to skip commercials and "forward" programming to other Replay users are forms of piracy. The judicial order is under review, but if it clears, SonicBlue will have to assign a numerical identifier to "track every show a user watches, every commercial he skips, and every show he sends to friends over the Internet," according to Business 2.0 reporter Eric Hellweg.

"The court's order is highly troubling," said a prepared statement from the CEA, issued May 6. "It forces SonicBlue to violate the trust of its customers and commit an incredible invasion of privacy. By court order, SonicBlue would be forced to spy on consumers and record every 'click' of their remote control, noting how they watch and record television shows. The data collection would include monitoring if the user chooses to skip commercials, watch the same program more than once, or delete a program . . . it does not allow for users to 'opt out' of the data collection."

The CEA is concerned that a court can impose an order forcing consumer electronics manufacturers to conduct surveillance activities of consumers. Should it pass review, the order will have "a chilling effect on technological innovation and consumers' buying habits," the trade group said. "The studios' agenda remains clear: to curtail home recording and fair use rights in the name of preserving intellectual property. George Orwell must be spinning in his grave. Indeed, movie studios would be wise to remember that Big Brother may work as a 'reality-based' television program—but not as a rule of law."

Hollywood film studios and television networks have become increasingly hysterical over the growing autonomy made possible for consumers by new technology. Turner Broadcasting CEO Jamie Kellner is quoted at length on the Website of Yale Law School regarding his beliefs about viewers' "contracts" with television networks. Consumers have a responsibility to view commercials, according to Kellner, because advertising revenue makes "free" television possible. Intentionally skipping commercials amounts to theft of programming, he has stated.

Kellner has even gone so far as to assert that taking too many bathroom breaks or averting your eyes is theft, too, implying that a legally mandated minimum weekly dosage of commercial viewing for all citizens might be the cure for what currently ails the entertainment industry. Consumers, apparently, aren't too frightened by Big Brother at this point. "When we got sued by the TV networks and movie studios in November, our sales exploded. In our call to Wall Street, we told them to up their numbers by 30 million," SonicBlue CEO Ken Potashner told Hellweg.