TV critics with thriving eBay businesses -- you know who you are --better think twice before posting any more HBO tapes online.
Writers and critics received copies of the new season of "Six Feet Under" on Monday with an added feature: Throughout every episode, the critics' own initials are emblazoned in the upper right hand corner of the screen.
Almost every cable and broadcast network has added terse language to its screener tapes in recent years, threatening legal action if critics even consider selling their videos. But the move by HBO is the most extensive yet by a programmer in the attempt to prevent piracy and keep tapes off the Internet.
HBO also decided to add the initials -- despite the extra cost -- after it realized it's easier than ever for Web users to download an entire episode of a TV show. By branding the shows with a so-called "chyron" of each critic's initials, the cabler hopes to track down whoever's posting the shows online.
HBO media relations senior VP Quentin Schaffer, in a letter to critics, said the initials will help "protect our programming from illegal distribution. We have tried to make this chyron as unobtrusive as possible."
Contact Michael Schneider at
mike.schneider@variety.com