Clearplay is a censoring technology incorporated into some DVD players, to help parents shield their children from sex, violence and foul language sometimes found in DVD movies. For just US$ 4.95 a month, you can subscribe to their service and certain colorful dialog will be muted or scenes skipped over if they are deemed too graphic.
Everything would be fine except for one thing, Hollywood is complaining (yes again) that to alter these works constitutes a violation of their copyrights. On a good day, you could even sympathise with them on this one. You could imagine a struggling director being insulted that the "soul" of his work was being ripped out and thrust throbbing in his face by skipping over sections of his art. That is, until you hear the rest of the story:
"You're getting a doctored, reinterpretation of the product," said Dan McGinn, a spokesman for the Directors Guild of America, which has sued ClearPlay in federal court in Colorado alleging copyright violations. "What they have is a new version of the product. It should be licensed." Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., said the bill "gives for-profit companies the right to commercially exploit the copyrights of movies without input from creators." Berman said he also was concerned that the same technology could be adapted to automatically remove commercials from cable and network television programs. |
So, the truth comes out in the end and once more,
it's not about art or standards or even copyright abuse. It's merely an issue of ...money. We have to ask ourselves too, if the concern isn't fueled by the potential of this tech to pass over revenue generating ads. Is this possibly what has the industry up in arms? You can be the judge.
Something tells me this isn't over just yet.
Source: Forbes
