Hollywood wants to make new movies rapidly accessible online

The MPAA, representing the big movie studios, has filed for approval with the FCC a plan to make new movies available online.

The MPAA proposes to cooperate with cable companies and satellite communications providers to release movies for home viewing close to or even during the time they play in theatres. “Many of us love movies, but we just can’t make it to the theater as often as we’d like. That is especially true for parents of young children and rural Americans who live far from the multiplex,” MPAA Chairman and CEO Dan Glickman said.

In the plan, the MPAA emphasises the secure transmission of the content. The proposed method, Selective Output Control (SOC), ensures that the content can only be transmitted using secure digital channels, not over analogue lines. Digital-analogue converting is where pirates do step in to rip movies.

The approval of the FCC is necessary for the MPAA to use SOC.

The new service will only be accessible to people who own digital, high-definition television sets. However, it is a step in the good direction of making content available online.