WASHINGTON — Federal regulators are poised to grant Hollywood the first of its three wishes for the digital future: a requirement that television and computer manufacturers limit what viewers can do with digital broadcasts from local television stations.
The Federal Communications Commission rule, which could be adopted this week, would make it harder for people to retransmit digital TV shows on the Internet.
Yet even proponents admit that the rule by itself wouldn't stop online piracy. And critics say it would be pointless and potentially costly, setting a dangerous precedent for government regulation of computers and software.
"As soon as we install it at some expense ... and it doesn't work, some people are going to go in front of Congress and say, 'It doesn't work! The world's going to end! Do something!' " said Michael Epstein, technology manager for Royal Philips' intellectual property and standards unit.
Countered Fritz Attaway, a top counsel and lobbyist for the Motion Picture Assn. of America: "Some protection is better than none. We're better off having it than not having anything."
The proposed rule is based on a relatively simple mechanism, called a broadcast flag, that tells digital TV receivers whether to keep a program off the Internet.
What makes it unusual is that it would be a preemptive effort by the government to shape technology to battle piracy, rather than relying on copyright holders to punish infringers by taking them to court.
The next two items on Hollywood's wish list: restrictions on devices that convert audio and video into digital files and on file-sharing networks that let users copy items from one another's computers.
In meetings with consumer electronics manufacturers such as Panasonic and technology companies such as Microsoft Corp., Hollywood's representatives have made clear their desire to have computers, video recorders, CD and DVD players and home networks redesigned to prevent unauthorized copies of movies, songs and TV shows from being made or played. These changes would have to be implemented through government regulations, for which the studios are laying the groundwork in Washington.
The studios believe the changes would help them protect their intellectual property, but Attaway said these efforts could benefit consumers too. By creating what amounts to a digital playing field that's closed to pirates, he said, entertainment companies could open their entire vaults to consumers online.
