
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 20, 1990                   TAG: 9004200713
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TV PIRACY A DILEMMA OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY

THE RECENT conviction of a Vinton man and a Pulaski man on television "piracy" charges points out one of the ironies of modern communications. Even the most sophisticated systems can be vulnerable to theft; some technology carries the seed of its own abuse.

The two sold illegal descrambling devices that allowed satellite-dish owners to receive free signals for which they should have been paying a monthly fee. Such devices weren't always necessary. In the early days of satellite broadcasting, none of the signals were scrambled. But as the popularity of home dish-receivers mushroomed, the packagers of specialized channels - HBO, Showtime and the rest - decided to make everyone who received the programming pay for it. Some dish owners elected not to.

Since the rapid advances in consumer electronics began in the early 1970s, virtually the same scenario has been played out in several fields. A new product arrives. (Pick one: pocket calculator, digital watch, compact disc player.) The first models are expensive, and many skeptics initially dismiss them as toys or fads. But as the manufacturing technology is perfected, the price of the item drops. Within a few years, almost everyone can afford one and even the skeptics wonder how they ever got along without it.

But the very nature of some of these products invites a certain amount of misuse. Many computer programs are easily copied. Even someone with minimal electrical skills can wire two videocassette recorders together to duplicate any program available on tape. The music industry has been fighting the introduction of digital audio tape (DAT) equipment in this country because it makes flawless sound reproduction so simple.

The people who create songs and films and computer programs have every right to expect fair payment for their use. The people who control the distribution of those materials have every right to protect them. The satellite-television industry, for example, has just introduced a more sophisticated descrambler meant to thwart the casual video pirate. When the first DAT units show up in stores later this summer, they will contain an electronic anti-piracy device that limits a few of their functions.

But, so far, the technology that invents these machines is running ahead of the technology that protects them, and public appetite is strong. Some people, driven by a profit motive or simply by a desire to beat the system, will try to outsmart the machines. That kind of piracy may be illegal, but as long as change and development are moving so quickly, it's also inevitable.

by CNB