''...the analog hole...''

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http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-analog30dec30,0,2997732.story?track=tothtml

>From the Los Angeles Times

EDITORIALS

Congressional copycats

December 30, 2005

HOLLYWOOD ALREADY CONTROLS most of what Americans see on TV. Now a pair of
representatives in Washington want to help Hollywood control how Americans see
it ? whether on their TV or some other new device. As a matter of both law and
marketing, it's a bad idea.

In the waning days of the 2005 session, Reps. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr.
(R-Wis.) and John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) quietly introduced, on Hollywood's
command, legislation that would require new computers, TV sets and video
recorders to limit copying. The bill targets the so-called analog hole, a
security vulnerability present when there are conventional analog connections
between devices ? a TV, say, and a VCR. Newer devices have digital connectors
that allow entertainment companies to scramble audio and video signals and thus
protect themselves against illicit copying.

The bill aims to prevent pirates from slipping through the analog hole to copy
movies or television programs, then converting them into digital files that
could be swapped on the Internet or burned onto DVDs. It would require any new
device that receives an analog video signal ? including TV tuners, computers and
TiVos ? to be equipped with technology to limit copying and redistribution
online.

The measure, which is expected to draw fire from some computer and
consumer-electronics companies, would give Hollywood unprecedented control over
what people do with the programs that come into their homes. Studios could force
TiVos and other digital recorders to erase pay-per-view or on-demand movies
stored for more than 90 minutes. New computers could be prevented from showing
copyprotected programs, such as a movie downloaded from an online store, in high
definition.

The studios have an understandable interest in combating piracy. But Congress
should not be mandating the technologies used to fight it, particularly when
they aren't proven. As Sony BMG learned when it used a new technology to prevent
CDs from being copied, unanticipated glitches can inflict more than enough pain
to offset any reduction in illegal copying.

At any rate, this legislation won't stop determined video pirates, who will find
other ways to make bootlegs. Its effect would be mainly on typical TV viewers,
who would be prevented from doing a number of things they expect to be able to
do with video. Maybe you're an HBO subscriber who recorded an episode of "Curb
Your Enthusiasm" to watch on the bus the next morning on your way to work.
Today, you can use analog connectors to convert that recording into a digital
file suitable for your iPod or Sony PSP. If the bill became law, the tools
needed for the conversion would be illegal.

Supporters of the legislation acknowledge that Hollywood needs to give people
more ways to watch shows at the time and place of their choosing. And there are
signs that Hollywood is getting the message, given the recent flurry of deals
between the networks and the companies that deliver their programming. Yet today
the only legal way to put the contents of a DVD you own onto the hard drive of
your PC, DVR or iPod is through analog connectors.

Such connectors are gradually disappearing from TVs and video recorders anyway,
so this "hole" will eventually close on its own. In the meantime, if the goal is
to deter illegal copying, Hollywood should work harder to help viewers watch
what they want when they want to. And Congress should understand that piracy
cannot be curbed simply by giving Hollywood more control.



Copyright 2005 Los Angeles Times.
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Reprinted for educational purposes only.


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