Hollywood will soon have the power to remotely disable the analog outputs on your set-top box, under a decision by federal regulators on Friday intended to prevent home recording of new movie releases.

The move by the Federal Communications Commission grants cable and satellite providers the power to block consumers from viewing just-released movies in an analog format through a process known as Selectable Output Control. Hollywood requested SOC powers as a condition of allowing providers for the first time to release movies to their in-home customers while the film is in theaters.

“We’re not breaking anybody’s TVs,”

The issue is why do they want to cannibalise cinema ticket sales by releasing it simultaneously on streaming services.

There may be separate markets but how much overlap is there?

Given you can't be in two places at once, next to none I'd imagine.

The people who like (...snipped...) farting loudly, rustling crisp packets, opening cans, chatting, put their feet up, pausing their film to text friends and so on.

I wonder if, perhaps, it may entice a few people out to the cinema again if the experience at home is hampered by problems meeting demand.

Trouble is, apart from the bit about pausing the film, that first sentence pretty much summed up my last visit to the cinema.

Pete

I go to the cinema less nowdays because of inconsiderate cinema patrons. I just cant understand people who have obviously paid £20+ (once you add in drink and food) to see a film then spend most of their time doing everything other than actually watching it.

As for the FCC, once again they will end up penalizing there customers and help to encourage them to buy that knock of copy of "latest blockbuster XVIIIIII", thus eroding their profits.

Though why do they keep shortening the screening cycle? It used to be on TV three years after the cinema launch. Now it can be less than a year.

The really ridiculous thing about all of this is that it's taking away functionality from the vast majority of law-abiding TV viewers who bought their TVs and DVRs expecting -- reasonably and accurately -- that they'd be able to record whatever is on TV, because of an amorphous and unproven "threat" of "piracy" which is based on bogus numbers and totally irrelevant given that the movies in question will already be widely available on file sharing networks.

If streaming is stupidly fast and it's easy to rewind/pause, then I may consider it though given I don't like PPV, I'm not sure I would go for it.