English Entertainment
Anti-piracy moves: CSS Tech, MPAA settle suit
MUMBAI: In a move that could impact the anti-piracy movement, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and CSS Technology have announced the amicable settlement of a lawsuit initiated by the MPAA’s members in April 2004. CSS chips protect against the illegal reproduction or redistribution of DVD content
Recently, the MPAA’s member companies stepped up their efforts to crack down on the illegal distribution of Content Scramble System (CSS) chips. These chips are used to unlock the security features on copyrighted DVDs.
The CSS licence restricts integrated circuit suppliers from selling these chips to DVD player and computer manufacturers that do not have a valid CSS licence. This is because such entities have no contractual obligations to implement appropriate security features.
Under the settlement reached, CSS will work cooperatively with the MPAA member companies in fighting piracy and CSS will sell chips only to DVD CCA licencees under the terms of a permanent injunction.
CSS states that it totally supports the enforcement of all parties’ valid intellectual property rights and is committed to being a leader in enabling content protection features.
The suit was part of a recent wave of Hollywood enforcement actions against hardware makers that studios believe are contributing to piracy.
The most controversial of these so far has been a lawsuit against start-up Kaleidescape, which makes high-end DVD jukeboxes that stream movies and other content on home networks. The company’s products allow customers to upload as many as 500 DVD movies to a central server, and then browse and play the movies anywhere in a home.
Kaleidescape executives say they acquired a licence for their product from the DVD Copy Control Association, which is the licensing group for Hollywood’s anti-piracy technology. But the DVD-CCA said its technology is meant to prevent copying of DVDs, and filed a suit against Kaleidescape in December. The suit remains outstanding in California state court.
English Entertainment
Ellison takes his Paramount-Warner Bros case straight to theater owners
The Skydance chief goes to CinemaCon with promises and a skeptical crowd waiting
CALIFORNIA: David Ellison strode into a room packed with thousands of cinema owners and executives at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday and did something rather bold: he looked them in the eye and asked them to trust him.
The chief executive of Paramount Skydance vowed that his company would release a minimum of 30 films a year if regulators greenlight its proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, a deal that has made theater owners deeply, and loudly, nervous.
“I wanted to look every single one of you in the eye and give you my word,” Ellison told the crowd. “Once we combine with Warner Bros, we are going to make a minimum of 30 films annually across both studios.”
It was a confident pitch. Whether it landed is another matter. Cinema operators have already called on regulators to block the deal, and scepticism in the room was hardly concealed.
Ellison pushed back by pointing to recent form. Paramount, born from the merger of Paramount Global and Skydance Media last August, plans to release 15 films this year, nearly double the eight it put out in 2025. Progress, he argued, was already underway.
He also threw theater owners a bone they have long been chasing: all films, he pledged, would run exclusively in cinemas for a minimum of 45 days, drawing applause from a crowd that has spent years fighting for exactly that commitment across the industry.
“People can speculate all they want,” Ellison said, “but I am standing here today telling you personally that you can count on our complete commitment. And we’ll show you we mean it.”
Fine words. The regulators, however, will have the last one.
