LOS ANGELES — The group that licenses DVD security software cleared the way yesterday for movies bought over the Internet to be burned onto a DVD that can play on any machine — a move that could dramatically change the way movies are sold.

Industry officials hailed the decision by the DVD Copy Control Association to license software designed to allow content to be burned to one disc but not copied to others.

"This is great news," said Curt Marvis, chief executive of movie download service CinemaNow.

"We expect the proliferation of burners that can burn these types of discs," he said.

Concerns about illegal copying have led Hollywood studios to only allow downloaded movies to be played and viewed on computer screens or portable devices. Cumbersome cables are needed to transfer the content to a TV set, but the files are not DVD quality and don't look as good when enlarged.

The problem is that Internet downloading wasn't envisioned when DVDs were invented more than two decades ago. The millions of standard DVD players are hardwired with the keys to unlock the digital security system built into pre-recorded DVDs.

But DVD burners on computers and writeable DVD discs don't contain the locks.

It has taken years for the technology companies, consumer electronics makers and studios that sit on the DVD Copy Control Association to agree to standards that would allow the digital locks to be included in a downloaded movie file and transferred to a protected DVD that will work in existing players.

"Getting multibillion-dollar companies in different industries to agree on standards is not easy," Marvis said.

Complicating the issue is that the "content scrambling system," or CSS, is an outdated technology that has been cracked by hackers.

But it is still illegal to circumvent the system and studios have been reluctant to allow download-to-burn options without at least the minimal protection afforded by CSS.

Studios have also been waiting for the mass adoption of new high-definition DVDs that have been designed to allow downloaded movies to be burned to a disc and contain a harder-to-crack security system.

Yesterday's decision opens the way for download services such as those operated by www.Amazon.com Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc., CinemaNow and Blockbuster Inc. to start offering download-to-burn options.

Using the new software, retail stores could operate kiosks that produce discs by request of virtually any movie ever made.

Consumers must still buy special DVDs equipped with the new software's content scrambling system.

Presumably, those discs will be more expensive because of license fees that need to be paid to companies that developed the technology.

Many DVD burners, especially on older computers, will have to be upgraded.