No copy protection for PS3's PlayTV service

Sony has explained that consumers will be able to export TV recordings made with PS3's forthcoming digital TV receiver in a standard file format and store them on other devices - without any copy protection issues.

Demonstrating the process to our sister site Eurogamer.net, Mark Bunting, a producer at Sony's Cambridge Studio currently working on the software for PlayTV, has shown how the MPEG-2 video files could be moved from the PlayTV interface to the PS3's home menu.

From the PS3's menu, content can then be moved to another storage device such as a memory stick, backup hard drive or PC. There is no copy protection in place and no time limit on how long the recording can be kept.

Asked what you could do with the file Bunting said: "Anything you like, really, as long as you do it legally. It's in its raw format."

He was no doubt alluding to the piracy of TV programmes that is currently rampant on BitTorrent peer-to-peer networks. It seems that there will be nothing to stop PlayTV acting as a source of these recordings, as can any PC TV tuner.

"We've talked to our legal department about it," said Bunting. "All we're doing is moving it out of PlayTV and to the cross-media bar as if it was any other recording. So hopefully users won't do stuff they shouldn't do with it.

"If I'm prohibited from getting the recording off and storing it somewhere else because some other dude is making money out of selling it, then I'd rather they brought the law in to catch those people," he added.

Sony has yet to announce a price and release date for PlayTV. It announced the service last year at Games Convention - PlayTV will feature two high-definition TV tuners, both of which will be able to view, record and play free TV channels, as well as offering standard definition support.