February 4th's <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?641">unanimous decision</A> by the <A HREF="http://www.fcc.gov/">Federal Communications Commission</A> to dismiss a petition from Sinclair Broadcasting seeking to modify the existing digital television broadcast standard has won praise from the <A HREF="http://www.ce.org/">Consumer Electronics Association</A>. "We commend the commissioners for today's unanimous decision," said CEA president Gary Shapiro. "With this ruling, DTV's future is clear and paved for success. The FCC has wisely provided broadcasters, manufacturers, and consumers with the certainty they need to move forward with the transition to digital television."

On January 15, the US Supreme Court refused to overturn a 1998 Congressional decision to extend previous copyright protection by twenty years.

As the professional-broadcast industry readies itself for the technology transformation brought about by the rapid growth of digital-media distribution, the need for a single, high-resolution digital master format is becoming essential. In an effort to fill this need, Sony Electronics, in collaboration with LaserPacific Media Corporation, has unveiled the 24 Frame Progressive (24p) High Definition Post Production System.

The <A HREF="http://www.eetimes.com">EETimes</A> recently reported that <A HREF="http://www.jvc.com/">JVC</A> and <A HREF="http://www.sony.com/">Sony</A> are cooperating to develop IEEE 1394 interface technologies for digital video recorders using Sony's i.Link and JVC's D-VHS format. The idea is to entice consumers to use D-VHS recorders in entertainment systems connected with 1394 cables.