Audio Video News

In a move the companies are calling a major step toward "realization of the digital home entertainment environment," the Digital Transmission Licensing Administrator (DTLA), Warner Bros., and Sony Pictures Entertainment announced last week that they have entered into long-term license agreements to promote the all-digital home transmission and display of motion pictures and other video content using DTLA's Digital Transmission Content Protection (DTCP).

DTLA says that it has signed more than 50 license agreements for DTCP with manufacturers of semiconductors, set-top cable and satellite boxes, and consumer electronics and personal computing products. The company adds that the agreements with Sony and Warner are the first licenses for use of DTCP by major motion picture studios.

Warner's Christopher J. Cookson says that "for content providers, the creation of secure entertainment networks is key to the delivery of high-value, high-resolution motion picture content into the home. The adoption of the DTCP technology is an important part of this process." Sony's Jared Jussim adds that "DTCP technology lays the foundation for a fully digital home network, to the benefit of both consumers and the providers of entertainment content."

According to the companies, the agreements are intended to permit Warner and Sony to protect pre-recorded media, pay-per-view, and video-on-demand transmissions against unauthorized copying, and to protect all content against unauthorized Internet re-transmission, while assuring consumers' ability to continue customary home recording of broadcast and subscription programming.

Sony and Warner say that the agreements also support new, pro-consumer capabilities such as digitally displaying content paused on personal video recorders, moving copies from personal video recorders to removable digital tape or disc recordings, and transferring copies among servers located in different areas of the home.

The Consumer Electronics Association's Gary Shapiro is clearly pleased with the news. Shapiro noted, "With consumers and the DTV phenomenon, seeing is believing. To date consumers have had far too little over-the-air content to enjoy on their digital televisions. While the copy protection concerns of the studios are significant, this announcement clearly demonstrates that content providers and manufacturers can work together and agree on technological means to honor artists' rights while delivering the promise of DTV to consumers. We call on the remaining major studios to follow the lead of Sony and Warner to help move the DTV transition forward."

DTLA, also known as "5C" (see previous), was formed in 1998 by Hitachi, Intel, Matsushita, Sony, and Toshiba to license their jointly-developed DTCP technology for protection of audiovisual and audio content against "unauthorized interception or re-transmission in the digital home environment." The group says that DTCP can be implemented over any high-speed bidirectional digital bus, including IEEE 1394 and Universal Serial Bus (USB) for the home and the MOST network technology for automobiles.