Squaring off over piracy: consumers cheer court win; Hollywood heads to Congress.

Broadcasting & Cable, May, 2005 by McConnell, Bill

In the fight over the right to copy digital TV programs, consumer groups face a nearly united front of lobbyists for the entertainment and technology industries. Hollywood and the broadcast networks are already demanding that Capitol Hill reinstate anti-copying protections enforced by the FCC but thrown out two weeks ago by the federal appeals court in Washington.

They expect support from Silicon Valley and TV-set makers. "There is now no government agency with authority to deal with the most serious issue raised by the transition to digital television: the lack of security for content," says Rick Cotton, general counsel for NBC Universal. NBC and the other networks fear that studios and other copyright holders won't permit new movies and other...

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