TEXT E In 58 million homes, the
VCR has become nearly as much as the family car. But despite the VCR’s
advantages, video buffs complain about its lira its. To duplicate prerecorded
movies, for instance, requires two VCRs awkwardly cabled together. No wonder,
then, that fans at Chicago’s Consumer Electronics Show last week were .excited
by a new machine that eliminates the drawback, Moreover, its appearance was a
triumph over we]] wired opposition in Tokyo and Hollywood. The
center of the excitement was the first dual deck videotape recorder available to
US consumers, the VCR 2, made by the tiny Arizona based Go video company. The
VCR 2 enables its users to make high quality duplicates of prerecorded tapes
easily. It also lets viewers watch a tape while simultaneously recording off
the. air. Go-video hopes to have a limited supply of the VCR 2 in stores by
Christmastime, priced at just under $1,000. But the machine’s move from freeze
frame to faster forward has not been easy. For starters, Go-video could find no
Japanese companies, which control manufacture of crucial VCR parts, willing to
provide needed components. For another thing, US movie studios opposed the
machine. So the company sued 15 Japanese and Korean makers, plus the Hollywood
studios, claiming restrain of trade. Several manufactures have now settled with
Go-video, and Korea’s Samsung, is tooling up to produce the VCR 2. Meanwhile,
Hollywood has modified its opposition because Go-video agreed to install
circuitry that will prevent the VCR 2 from copying movies protected by antitheft
coding. Still movie makers may see double for a while. Many of the films on
store shelves, including hot new rentals like Coming to America and Crocodile
Dundee 11, do not contain the coding. Why did Go-video company sue Japanese makers
A.Because Japanese makers are tooling up to produce the VCR 2. B.Because no Japanese companies are willing to sell needed components. C.Because Japanese makers like to cooperate with Korean counterparts. D.Because Japanese makers compete with them.