A bill that legalizes the development and sale of technologies that allow home viewers to skip objectionable content in commercial movies passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday. The legislation also providesstiffer penalties for pirating material at the theater and on the Internet.
The Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005 passed on a voice vote and is expected to receive the President’s signature later this week. In addition to effectively invalidating a civil lawsuit brought by Hollywood against manufacturers of so-called “DVD sanitizing” equipment, the new law will slap up to five years behind bars and a $250,000 fine on anyone convicted of recording movies in theaters or posting films and songs on peer-to-peer file swapping networks before their official releases.
A similar bill passed the Senate earlier this year. Both got the applause of ClearPlay, one of the developers of software enabling parents to skip sex and violence and other scenes in Hollywood-made DVD discs.
"We're thrilled that it passed," said chief executive Bill Aho after the House vote, adding that consumers should be allowed to use movie-viewing technology any way they choose. "I think it's a great bill for families. I think it's great for parents, and I think it's great for the technology sector."
ClearPlay and similar companies were sued by Hollywood studios, the Director's Guild, and 13 directors individually for copyright violations over their technology, on grounds that it altered their work. That litigation awaits a ruling in federal court in Colorado.
Theatre owners generally supported the bill. "This legislation will permit theatre operators to combat movie theft at its main source," said National Association of Theatre Owners general counsel Kendrick Macdowell in a statement, "by intercepting and detaining thieves who brazenly attempt to copy movies from our screens."
Former MGM anti-piracy executive Laura Tunberg helped lobby for the anti-piracy legislation even if she and her fellow film executives didn't like having to legalize such technology as ClearPlay at the apparent insistence of Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), who pushed for the provisions.
"Lamar Smith comes along and says, 'Well, if you want your anti-piracy bill, this is what you're going to get with it.' What do you say, no?" she was quoted as saying in the Los Angeles Times. "I'm not going to support my own legislation?"
ClearPlay, for its part, plans to bring out two new DVD machines with filtering functions during the summer of 2005 and wants to integrate its technology into other devices. Aho told reporters the company is talking to "multiple companies" about such integration pending the outcome of the Hollywood litigation.
