Ruling Leverages DMCA to Hamper Innovative American Entrepreneur

Arlington, Virginia - Consumer Electronics Association (CEA®) President and CEO Gary Shapiro issued the following statement in response to the U.S. District Court ruling in Macrovision v. Sima Products Corporation, a CEA member company:

“Consumers should be outraged by today’s decision. The devices Sima Products manufactures simply allow consumers to use digital techniques to make up for viewing artifacts in analog material - some from age or distortion, and some caused as a result of the use of distortive copy protection techniques. Such products have been necessary and available, in the analog and digital domains, for years. The legislative history of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is clear that passive analog measures that distort video signals are not “technical protection measures.” Indeed, the “No Mandate” clause of the DMCA (Section 1201(c)(3) ) makes this clear. To consider them as such, and for courts to extend the reach of a problematical law is another extreme example of the growing imbalance between consumer rights and intellectual property rights.
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Arlington, Virginia - The following statement was issued today by Consumer Electronics Association (CEA®) President and CEO Gary Shapiro regarding the House Energy and Commerce Committee passage of the Communications, Promotion and Enhancement Act of 2006:

CEA commends the full committee for passing legislation that will pave the way for more consumer choice in video services. We applaud the leadership of Chairman Barton and other committee members for championing legislation that removes unnecessary regulatory barriers, providing the incentives for new entrants to invest in and deploy new video services.
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Almost Half of Consumers Say Their Next TV Set Will Be Flat Panel, Finds CEA Study
Growing Interest in Bridging Gap between PC and Consumer Electronics-Based Entertainment

Arlington, Virginia - While only 17 percent of consumers currently own a flat panel display (FPD), 49 percent say their next television purchase will be some type of flat panel technology, according to research from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA®). CEA’s study, Display Opportunities: Present and Future, presents both opportunities and challenges for the consumer electronics industry as consumers upgrade from traditional tube sets to FPDs.

“Thin is in when it comes to TV’s,” said CEA Director of Industry Analysis Sean Wargo. “The current TV market is in the midst of a massive upgrade cycle. Flat panel shipments now comprise 36 percent of total revenues and growth is assured with FPD reaching 63 percent of revenues by 2009 - despite and because of continual price declines in this category. All of this growth brings the opportunity for attached purchases, such as mounts, cabling, universal remotes and even furniture. In fact, this may end up being more lucrative than set sales themselves and is a tremendous opportunity for retailers.”
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Legislation Would Send Consumers “Back to the Tape Age” and Would Negate Fair Use

Arlington, Virginia - Today the Home Recording Rights Coalition (HRRC) expressed its strong opposition to the “Perform Act” introduced by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Bill Frist (R-TN) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC). HRRC Chairman Gary Shapiro said:

The legislation would take away the longstanding rights of consumers to enjoy the benefits and flexibility of digital technology. Indeed, it would undo decades of progress. If the bill were enacted, recording onto digital memory chips would be less useful to consumers than recording onto magnetic tape was 40 years ago.

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CEA’S Shapiro Calls on Consumer Electronics Industry To Educate Consumers On Key Issues

Arlington, Virginia - The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA®) released the following letter today from CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro to members of the association urging support and participation in a broad effort to inform and educate consumers about issues that could threaten the viability of the consumer electronics industry:

Dear CEA member:

This is a request for you to educate and mobilize consumers around four primary issues: hearing loss prevention, digital television (DTV), the V-chip and home recording rights.

CEA’s leadership is asking the industry to support an unprecedented joint effort to educate consumers on these issues. With a unified voice, we can help consumers and protect our industry and your business from government regulation. We will be doing the right thing if we inform consumers about:
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EchoStar and OLN Reach Long-Term Agreement; OLN Restored to DISH Network(TM) Customers

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. & STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–April 24, 2006–EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) and its DISH Network(TM) and OLN today announced a multi-year agreement which restores the channel to DISH Network customers.

“It was important that we negotiated a fair contract, enabling DISH Network to remain a tremendous value for our customers,” said Eric Sahl, senior vice president of Programming. “We understand that this has been a difficult period for our customers, and we thank them for all their patience. We look forward to a long relationship with OLN in which we can provide the network to our customers.”
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Syntax-Brillian Continues To Build Momentum In China’s Vast Consumer Electronics Market

65-inch 1080P Wins Prestigious ‘2006 LCOS RPTV of the Year’ Award at the Annual China Digital TV Awards Event

TEMPE, Ariz., April 24, 2006 — With extremely rapid growth and market penetration in North America, Syntax-Brillian Corporation (NASDAQ:BRLC), a U.S.-based manufacturer and marketer of LCD and LCoS™ HDTVs and digital entertainment products, is charting a similar strategic course in the vast Chinese market for digital entertainment products. Most recently, the company won the “LCoS RPTV of the Year Award” at the Annual China Digital TV Award 2006 event held in Beijing, China, April 20, 2006.
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Arlington, Virginia - The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA®) and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) today announced a coordinated effort to broaden educational outreach to consumers about the transition to digital television (DTV).

“We are excited and pleased to partner with NCTA to undertake this important effort,” said CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro. “Digital and high-definition television (HDTV) continue to capture the imagination of consumers across the nation. Indeed, CEA forecasts that this year sales of HDTV sets will outpace sales of analog TVs. With a hard date set for the end of analog broadcasting, we are now in the home stretch to completing this historic transition. As we continue on this journey, all industries involved have a responsibility to educate consumers about this exciting new era in television. To this end, we will combine our award-winning experience in DTV consumer education with cable’s creativity and broad reach to help ensure consumers have easy access to quality information about this transition.”
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Scene It?(R) On Demand with Comcast Lets Viewers Test Their Movie and TV Trivia Knowledge

PHILADELPHIA and SEATTLE, April 21, 2006 /PRNewswire via COMTEX News Network/ — Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK), the nation’s leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications products and services, and Screenlife, LLC, creator of the world’s top-selling board game, Scene It? The DVD Game(TM), today announced an agreement to develop customized Video On Demand (VOD) versions of the popular movie and TV trivia games.

Comcast and Screenlife began offering VOD versions of the wildly popular trivia games for the whole family, including movie, TV, James Bond and Jr. editions, earlier this year on the cable provider’s ON DEMAND service, which has generated more than two billion program views since 2004. Since launching in February, the Scene It? interactive games have quickly become one of the most-popular original programs on Comcast ON DEMAND and have already put thousands of customers’ trivia knowledge to the test.
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PC+TV Ensemble Lets Users View Internet and Broadband TV
Broadcasts on the AQUOS LCD TV

Sharp will introduce into the Japanese market the “Internet AQUOS” which will enable users to view high-quality digital high-definition TV broadcasts as well as enjoy Internet and broadband broadcasts simply and easily using only the remote controller for navigation. The new Internet AQUOS lineup includes four models based on combinations of a 37V-inch (LD-37SP1) or 32V-inch*1 (LD-32SP1) TV section with a high-definition video recording (PC-AX100M) or terrestrial analog recording (PC-AX50M) personal computer.

For the first time, Sharp has fused PC functions with its AQUOS LCD TVs, expanding TV applications into new territory. Users can not only view HDTV broadcasts with superb image quality, but also use the remote control unit to quickly display websites*2 associated with TV programs while they are being viewed and enable on-line purchases of products related to the show at that moment.
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