Hollywood Sues ClearPlay Over DVD Player

Members of the Director's Guild of America (DGA) are suing a company that has developed a DVD player that skips seamlessly over a movie's objectionable contents.

ClearPlay’s groundbreaking DVD player, marketed by RCA, contains software that mutes foul language and skips graphic violence, sex and nudity in films. ClearPlay staffers, according to the company’s website, have screened hundreds of movies to identify the precise moments in a movie when objectionable elements occur, and monthly updates for new releases are provided for a modest fee.

ClearPlay claims the editing process is virtually unnoticeable, and is similar to an edited-for-TV version of the movies. “It’s as if you had super-fast fingers and were able to punch remote control buttons fast and accurately enough to skip and mute certain content, but still maintain the movie’s continuity and entertainment value!” the website said.

At a cost of around $80, the new DVD player is quite a bargain, but the DGA wants the company to halt distribution. It argues that ClearPlay’s technology does not respect the finished film product nor the director’s vision for the movie.

But ClearPlay CEO Bill Aho said that should not be the issue. “In the home, families should be able to watch [movies] any way they want to,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle. Parents will have to wait to see if a judge agrees.

Source: AFA Journal