ClearPlay Applauds Passage of Family Movie Act
Bill Expected to Quickly End Hollywood Litigation; Company Also Announces Parents Television Council Seal of Approval and New Product Introduction
ClearPlay Inc., the leader in parental control technology, applauded the passage of The Family Movie Act today as part of the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act. Passage of the bill is expected to result in dismissal of the lawsuit filed against ClearPlay by eight Hollywood movie studios and the Directors Guild of America in September 2002. The bill will not affect companies in the litigation that edit and rent or resell DVDs.
"This is tremendous news for ClearPlay and a real victory for families," said CEO Bill Aho. "This ensures that parents will have the tools to control the movie content their families and children see in their own home. And it means ClearPlay has a clear path to more significant business development opportunities."
The Family Movie Act was introduced by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) and sponsored in the Senate by Orrin Hatch (R-UT). The bill clarifies the Copyright Act to guarantee the legality of technologies that filter unwanted content in movies in the home. The Family Entertainment and Copyright Act also includes several movie anti-piracy provisions, which also were supported by ClearPlay.
The legislation has received substantial support from many family and parenting organizations, including the Parents Television Council, Focus on the Family, Kids First!, OneMillionMoms.com and Viewer Freedom. "We especially want to thank the thousands of individuals, including many ClearPlay customers, who took the time to call, write and email their elected officials to voice support for the Family Movie Act," added Aho. "This grassroots involvement really made a difference."
The support of the Parents Television Council was particularly timely. The PTC recently recognized ClearPlay as the first product ever to receive its coveted Parents Television Council Seal of Approval, previously awarded to television shows and movies. "The ClearPlay product is a clear winner for parents who want to shield their children from graphic and gratuitous sex, violence and profanity," PTC Executive Director Tim Winter said. "This product puts families in control of the content that their children are watching ... and is an excellent resource for concerned parents."
This was a big week for Salt Lake City-based ClearPlay. The company also announced the introduction of a new ClearPlay product to hit the market in June of this year. Under the ClearPlay brand name, the player includes a USB jump drive for portable flash memory. The drive can be used to easily move the latest ClearPlay Filters from your PC or laptop to the player, or to view digital photos on your television. "The ClearPlay USB DVD player is a tremendous innovation for customer convenience," said company founder Matt Jarman. "It's the next generation of ClearPlay."
About ClearPlay
ClearPlay Inc., founded in 1999, develops advanced parental control technologies for consumer electronic products, including DVD players and recorders, TVs, cable and set-top boxes, digital video recorders, etc. The company's first products allow consumers to view DVDs, purchased or rented through conventional retailers, free of unwanted content. It gives consumers the ability to skip and mute over graphic violence, sex, nudity and profanity, if they choose. ClearPlay DVD players and Filters can be purchased at www.ClearPlay.com. Using ClearPlay does not touch, alter or change the DVD in any way. The technology can also be applied to cable, satellite, PVR and video on demand.
