To use ClearPlay, consumers first must have a special DVD player made by RCA. RCA halted production of the player after the lawsuits were filed, but it is still available for about $80 from ClearPlay and some Wal-Mart stores.

Customers then download filters on the Internet or receive them by mail on an unlimited basis under a subscription or by purchasing them a la carte. Filters are available for more than 1,000 titles: everything from "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" to the "Matrix" trilogy.

Consumers can choose to filter out a combination of content, such as cursing, "vain references to deity" or "graphic vulgarity." If ClearPlay users don't mind profanity, they can leave that in a film while opting out of violent scenes.

Not all films are ideal for such filtering, particularly those where potentially objectionable material is central to the plotline. Aho said ClearPlay sometimes will opt against cleaning up a film that is inherently violent — such as a war movie — for fear of butchering the original.

"We want to make sure people are pleased with what they're going to see," Aho said. After all, he added, "the movie needs to make sense. We don't edit or filter a lot of the movies that are problematic for us."