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Selectable Output Control

BY CORY DOCTOROW

Chances are, you haven’t heard of “selectable output control” (SOC), a proposed digital TV technology that would allow broadcasters to tag their content with a list of devices that are allowed to play it. That’s because it’s an insane idea.

Picture this: you power up your home theater, a complex network of game consoles, A/V switchers, cable boxes, PVRs, DVD players, 5.1 speakers, amps, a home theater PC, and a monitor or projector. After locating the correct remote, you start surfing through channels. All good. But when you hit MTV, the gorgeous, perfectly balanced sound stops.

Why? Because MTV doesn’t want you digitizing the songs that accompany its music videos, so it sends a digital “flag” ...

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