Viacom Asks FCC to Prevent HDTV Piracy

Viacom Inc., parent of the CBS television network and Paramount Pictures, has threatened to stop all high-definition TV broadcasts on CBS unless federal regulators mandate certain anti-piracy technologies by this summer.

CBS is the leading source of free, over-the-air HDTV, transmitting most of its prime-time programs and many sports broadcasts in the format for the last four seasons.

In comments filed Dec. 6, Viacom told the Federal Communications Commission that it would transmit no HDTV in the 2003-04 season unless the commission mandated “broadcast flag” technology to deter digital TV broadcasts from being retransmitted over the Internet.

Viacom warned the FCC that without protections for free over-the-air broadcasts, HDTV programs would shift to more secure cable and satellite services. Some Viacom programs already are heading in that direction: On Wednesday, HDNet of Dallas announced a deal to rebroadcast several defunct TV series from Paramount in HDTV on cable and satellite.

A variety of programmers, TV manufacturers and high-tech companies have backed the concept of a broadcast flag, which would require future TVs, computers and other digital devices to block digital TV shows from moving onto the Internet. But the proposal has drawn sharp criticism from some technology companies and consumer advocates, who warn that it would hamstring innovation to guard against a nonexistent threat.

Jon Healey