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Many areas of digital communication, including digital television, raise concerns about unauthorised reuse of content. Proposals exist in the United States and Europe for applying content control technologies to free-to-air digital television to limit the reuse of broadcast content. These proposals have implications for regulatory options, and for the social and cultural position of television in countries such as Australia. Each proposal also demonstrates the importance of current issues in copyright reform for questions of media law and policy. By examining the history and current status of the broadcast flag in the United States and the Content Protection and Copy Management standard being developed in Europe, this article suggests that Australian regulators are likely to face similar calls for action on digital broadcast content and explains some of the possible regulatory choices regarding the transmission and the reception of digital free-to-air content. As with the United States' and European plans, the choices made in relation to television may have wider implications for digital networked communications and the evolution of a diverse media environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the 1990s, digital technology entered film production and rapidly altered both the production process and the audience`s experience, as complex soundscapes and special effects became the hallmark of cinematic blockbusters. By 1999, the prospect of an end-to-end digital cinema, or cinema without celluloid, seemed to be in sight. Digital distribution and exhibition were extolled as particularly attractive prospects, and a number of test sites were established in the United States. However, the last four years have demonstrated that significant issues need to he resolved before there will he broader implementation of digital cinema. Working from a series of interviews with key industry practitioners in Australia and the United States, this article examines the struggles currently affecting the rollout of digital cinema, and assesses the likely impact on Australian exhibition practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]