In related news, political types in the US Congress are putting forward proposed legislation to safeguard copyright as digital media technology becomes more sophisticated. They are worried that the next generation of TV and video systems will not only allow viewers to make perfect digital copies of a TV network's output, but will be able to split it up into constituent parts and file it on their own hard disk (eg record an hour of MTV, split it up into individual videos, transfer it onto your own video jukebox). The House Subcommittee on Internet and Intellectual Property is considering how legislation could be used to stop that happening - perhaps by forcing electronics firms to put limits on how consumers can record and store content. Of course any such legislation, while popular with the entertainments industry, will probably be opposed by the electronics sector, who have proven a powerful lobbying force in the past, so what legislation will finally reach Congress remains to be seen.
Nov 7, 2005
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1 min read
US Congress considers more copyright-protection law
The House Subcommittee on Internet and Intellectual Property is considering legislation to stop digital TV recording systems splitting broadcasts into separate copyright-protected files.