Germanys Leading Pay-TV Operator Premiere Adopts Macrovision to Protect Pay-Per-View Movies

Macrovision will provide Premiere Fernsehen GmbH & Co. KG ("Premiere"), Germanys primary pay-TV operator with video copy protection on all its pay-per-view movie channels.Premieres pay-per-view offerings, shown on PREMIERE DIREKT, include exclusive films that subscribers can order around the clock on a once-off basis, with Hollywood blockbusters shown up to 18 months prior to their free-TV screening. Subscribers can choose among some 30 films a month on three different channels. In choosing Macrovision, Premiere has followed recommendations of the licensing movie companies to protect their intellectual property. The scale of this multi-year contract represents a major step forward for Macrovision in the European TV market. While Macrovision already has considerable presence in the pay-TV marketplace, this contract is particularly significant because of the scale of the German pay-TV market within Europe. Macrovisions technology enables consumers to view programs but prevents unauthorized recording of copy-protected content via videocassette recorders, hard drive recorders (DVRs), DVD recorders and compliant home media center PCs. It is a market proven, highly effective system for protecting digital content. Macrovisions copy protection is widely deployed worldwide in digital set-top boxes, as well as in almost all consumer electronic devices for video playback. In addition to its technical effectiveness and widespread hardware compliance programs, Macrovisions technology is supported by law under the auspices of the recently introduced European Copyright Directive, as copy protection circumvention devices or technology are illegal under the law.