Yes the MPAA doesn't distribute the licenses, but no that doesn't mean they have nothing to do with it. They influence under what conditions content can be pla

Yes the MPAA doesn't distribute the licenses, but no that doesn't mean they have nothing to do with it. They influence under what conditions content can be played on a device. Consider the case of CableCARD, where a device manufacturer has to have their hardware and OS certified before they will be allowed to make a device and distribute drivers for it. A consortium of cable providers enforces that requirement, but ultimately, content producers are the ones demanding these restrictions (like the various copy restriction flags).