Digitising analogue signals may violate the DMCA

The comment is as a result of a lawsuit between Macrovision and Sima Products. Macrovision claimed that Sima's video processors could kill off Macrovision's analog copy protection.

Macrovision's system involved putting in noise into the vertical blanking interval found in analog video signals. The noise only shows up when you try to copy it onto VHS.

But the Sima gear converts the analog signal to digital, which eliminates the noise in the blanking interval, then processes the signal and converts it back to analog. Macrovision managed to get a court to issue a preliminary injunction against Sima, which was upheld this week.

The move has been greated with horror by the Consumer Electronics Association. President Gary Shapiro said Sima Products simply allowed consumers to use digital techniques to make up for viewing analogue material.

The injunction is being considered by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. An amicus brief has been filed in support of Sima by the American Library Association, the Consumer Electronics Association, the Home Recording Rights Coalition, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

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