Audio Video News

For the second time, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has sued chipmakers for selling chips to makers of DVD players capable of violating industry-wide copy-protection rules.

On Monday, August 23, the MPAA announced suits against Sigma Designs of Milpitas, CA, and MediaTek of Taiwan. The plaintiffs claim that the two companies sold chips to manufacturers whose products offer features disallowed by DVD technology licenses.

The legal move is part of an effort by the entertainment industry to combat piracy by any means possible, including its technological foundations. All manufacturers of DVD-related hardware are supposed to operate under licenses granted by the DVD Copy Control Association which include provisions honoring copy controls.

On July 26, the MPAA won an injunction against Fremont, CA–based ESS Technology over the sale of chips to manufacturers whose products allowed DVDs to be copied. In that case, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis issued an order to prevent ESS from selling chips to any manufacturer whose products circumvented DVD copy protection.

The July victory followed one earlier in the year against software maker 123 Studios, whose "X Copy" product can be used to make backup copies of DVDs. In cases against chipmakers, the MPAA's litigation tactic was to expose breaches of contract rather than actual cases of copyright violation.