MPA Warns ITC Against Any PC, Smart TV Import Ban on HDCP Market
The order Philips seeks at the International Trade Commission on Hisense, LG and TCL smart TVs and Dell, HP and Lenovo PCs for allegedly infringing four secure authenticated distance measurement patents (see 2010050047) would have “deleterious effects on the public…
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interest,” posted MPA (login required) Tuesday in docket 337-3492. Delegate authority to an administrative law judge “to develop a full evidentiary record on the public interest and make recommended findings,” asked the trade group. The import ban would exclude “a wide range of digital video-capable electronics,” including tablets, computers and smart TVs, that incorporate high-bandwidth digital content protection, said MPA. Without HDCP, unencrypted copyrighted content can be “illegally misappropriated with a few clicks,” the association said. The U.S. content industry would face “more detrimental economic consequences from rampant piracy,” which costs creators at least $29 billion annually, said MPA. “Any remedial order preventing the use of HDCP, without viable alternatives, would thus interfere with Congress’ long-standing policies” under Chapter 12 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, it said. The accused devices with HDCP “are widely used in the U.S. and globally to provide secure delivery of entertainment, web-browsing, streaming video, and gaming,” said MPA. “HDCP protects content flowing from a streaming device, game console, Blu-ray player, or set-top box on an HDMI cable to a television display. Billions of devices implement HDCP." Philips didn’t comment.