Push to Allow DVDs to Be 'Sanitized' Alarms Studios

[LiviaOlivia]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/la-fi-decency23jun23,1,3388444.story?coll=chi-technology-hed
From the Los Angeles Times

Push to Allow DVDs to Be 'Sanitized' Alarms Studios

By Richard Simon
Times Staff Writer

June 23, 2004

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Over Hollywood's long-standing objections, some members of Congress are endorsing legislation that would allow DVDs to be "sanitized" — stripped of scenes that parents don't want their children to see or hear — without first requiring the consent of studios or directors.

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A House bill now gaining momentum would make it so that sanitizing films do not violate federal copyright law as long as the edited copies are restricted to home use, as opposed to being shown in theaters. DVDs are sanitized through filters that can remove any kind of material regarded as offensive — profanity, nudity or violence, for example.

Called the Family Movie Act, the bill awaits action in the Judiciary Committee, where it has won an endorsement from the influential chairman of the panel, Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R.-Wis.). No comparable bill has been introduced in the Senate.

The legislation was introduced in response to a fight being waged in federal court in Colorado by the studios, the Directors Guild of America and 16 prominent directors against ClearPlay Inc., a Utah company that sells filtering software and DVD players with special filtering features built in.

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Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) has not taken a position on the House bill. But he hinted that it might be best for both sides to forge some sort of compromise. "The fastest and surest way to protect and promote family-friendly viewing rights," he said, "is for artists and consumers to negotiate a mutually acceptable resolution."

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Oh yeah? Hey Hatch what does your "good friend" Gov Arnoold have say about this? Sounds like a loss of revenue for the likes of him.