Memorandum submitted by Motion Picture
Association
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) represents
seven major international producers and distributors of films,
home video material and television programmes[1].
Our member companies are devoting substantial effort and resources
to the development of a wide range of digital entertainment content
and services and have thus a vital interest in the orderly and
secure transition from analogue to digital broadcasting.
We would therefore like to thank the Culture,
Media and Sport Committee of the House of Commons for the opportunity
offered to provide views in response to the Committee's inquiry
on the Government's proposal to switch-off analogue terrestrial
television broadcasts over the period 2008-12.
We would like to address a few issues which
have direct impact on some of the Committee's explicit centres
of interest, namely the "policy objectives and economic of
digital switchover" and "steps needed toward achieving
switchover to the Government's timetable".
Our submission is primarily devoted to what
we see as the urgent necessity to make sure that the right conditions
are in place, as an incentive for content providers to contribute
to the rolling-out of new attractive digital television (DTV)
services. Copyrighted works, and in particular films and TV programming,
undoubtedly constitute the basis of any DTV offer being put forward
and the establishment of a secure environment for these works
not only benefits content providers but also consumers and network
operators, who all share a common interest in the development
of a legitimate market characterized by a large menu of choices.
The United Kingdom's market has been a champion
of the content-drives-demand principle. As stated in the latest
version of the Digital Television Action Plan (DTAP), "The
UK leads the world in digital television. Our broadcasters, manufacturers
and retailers have put the UK at the forefront of this revolution."
The risk associated with being a successful
pioneer is to be the first exposed to an increased level of illegal
practices plaguing digital media. According to a study by Envisional
Ltd. (24 February 2005), "The UK is the largest downloader
of online pirate TV programmes in the world" (|) and "[There
is a C]urrent worldwide explosion in online TV piracy of which
around 18% is occurring in Britain." We are referring to
the issues of (1) unauthorised re-transmission of unencrypted
digital television signals and (2) the conversion of protected
digital broadcast signals to analogue format and back to digital
with the result that any content protection enjoyed in the digital
space is effectively removed. Both these gaps in protection are
contributing to the severe problem of illicit file sharing of
audio-visual works occurring on peer-to-peer file sharing networks.
We believe that the United Kingdom should shield its digital leadership
through analogue-to-digital switchover and into analogue switch-off
by ensuring that the technological solutions designed to remedy
the vulnerability of digital copyrighted content are in place.
The weight of the audiovisual industry in the UK, if it still
has to be proven at all, is patent in the Oxford Economic Forecasting
study on "The Economic Contribution of the UK Film Industry"
(20 September 2005), which reads that "The UK Film industry
has become a substantial industry directly employing 31,000 workers
[and] directly contributing around £960 million a year to
GDP. (|)" We fear that these impressive figures are most
directly threatened by the development of online piracy.
We were disappointed that while interoperability
is of utmost importance, content protection does not appear in
the following statement in the DTAP: "As is the case now
with the analogue televisions, people should have the choice of
a very wide range of digital televisions sets, of all sizes and
prices. They should also be able to choose from a range of set-top
boxes, from the cheap and simple digital converter, to the top-end
device with hard disk, Internet browser, etc| This equipment should
also be as interoperable as far as is technically possible, to
ensure that people who have bought equipment can still use it
even if they swap to another service provider. We are committed
to working with the manufacturers and within Europe to achieve
this." The recent Report of the Digital TV Project also
fails to visibly mention content protection.
Both however mention MHP (Multi-Media Home Platform),
which presupposes familiarity with the Digital Video Broadcasting
Project (DVB), the goal of which is the harmonious, market-driven
development of digital broadcasting.
The DVB has notably been devoting important
resources to the development of effective Content Protection and
Copy Management (CPCM) system. We would like to emphasize the
importance of fostering an interoperability that does not come
at the expense of security. The Interoperability/security equilibrium
is one of the core principles of the DVB Project, and we hope
that through the Department of Trade and Industry and Ofcom, both
DVB members, these important concerns will be integrated in a
comprehensive analogue switch-off plan.
We would be happy to provide further details
on the above-mentioned issues upon request.
We thank you for your attention and consideration.
November 2005
1 MPA members include: Buena Vista International,
Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Paramount Pictures Corporation,
Sony Pictures Releasing International Corporation, Twentieth Century
Fox International Corporation, Universal International Films,
Inc., and Warner Bros. Pictures International, a division of Warner
Bros. Pictures Inc. Back
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