"Reining in tech
Learning from the Napster case, the entertainment industry is trying to block new technology before it takes off "
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When the original Napster program became an instant consumer hit five years ago, it blindsided the music business.

Today, the entire entertainment industry -- hoping to avoid being caught off guard again -- has stepped up efforts to nip potential problems with emerging technologies in the bud, before the public gets its hands on them.

For example, Hollywood movies studios and the National Football League recently teamed up to try to block a proposal from digital video recorder company TiVo Inc. to let subscribers view recorded TV programs over the Internet. The move surprised officials of the Silicon Valley firm, who weren't even ready to introduce that feature to the public.

Meanwhile, the music industry has asked federal regulators to take action to prevent future digital radio receivers from being able to automatically compile libraries of free CD-quality songs that can be shared on the Internet. This comes despite the fact that digital radio is barely off the ground.

Technology companies and public advocacy groups criticize these moves, saying the entertainment business is trying to stifle innovation to increase its own profits.

"It strikes us as a really bad idea to regulate new technologies in their infancy, in utero if you will,'' said Fred von Lohmann, senior intellectual property attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco digital rights advocacy group. "That logic could be used to justify legislation on any technology.''

But entertainment industry officials say they are just trying to strike a fair balance between allowing innovation and stopping piracy.

"We are not against technology,'' said Fritz Attaway, executive vice president for government relations for the Motion Picture Association of America, Hollywood's powerful Washington trade organization. "Our objective is not to stop technology, but to ensure that technology can provide a secure environment for our content.''