Consumers will soon be able to make legal copies of high-definition movies, if a new coalition of media companies can reach agreement.

Several high-profile technology companies and movie studios are expected to announce Wednesday that they have formed an alliance to ensure that high-definition video and other content cannot be pirated in home networks. In doing so, the group may also lay the groundwork for the legal copying of such content.



Sources familiar with the group’s formation said the initial members include IBM, Intel, Sony, Microsoft, Warner Bros., Walt Disney and Panasonic. The announcement is scheduled to be made at the cross-industry Content Protection Technology Working Group (CPTWG) meeting in Los Angeles, although last-minute membership changes could occur before then.



The alliance marks the culmination of years of tentative and often suspicious contact between the high-tech industry and Hollywood. It will be aimed at developing specifications to protect copyrighted content such as movies inside home networks. If the group is successful, a consumer might be able to download a high-definition movie, store it on a PC, watch it on a television and transfer it to a mobile device to watch while traveling.



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