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Proposed Legislation Would Plug "Analog Hole" in Consumer Electronics

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 20, 2005 - 7:23am.
Washington - A new anti-piracy bill introduced in the U.S. House aims to plug the "analog hole," by outlawing devices that can convert analog video into digital unless they contain certain copy-protection technologies, CNET News.com reported. Backed by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the Digital Transition Content Security Act is also endorsed by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). "This legislation is designed to secure analog content from theft that has been made easier as a result of the transition to digital technologies," Sensenbrenner told News.com. "[Criminals] obtain copyrighted content and then redistribute for profit at the copyright owner's expense." The bill would affect PC TV tuners, digital video recorders and other devices that can make copies of copyrighted content, degrading their features so that, for instance, copy-protected shows could only be recorded for 90 minutes, and only in lower-quality format. The proposed legislation will likely not be taken up for several months, after Congress returns from its holiday break.
tags: Law | Analog Hole | Consumer Electronics | Plug |