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Broadcast Flag All But Approved
Posted by
timothy
on Wed Oct 22, 2003 06:51 AM
from the but-the-shoutin' dept.
from the but-the-shoutin' dept.
Are We Afraid writes "The FCC is about to approve the broadcast flag for HDTV, according to Reuters. The EFF has been vocal in its disapproval, but the suits appear to be pushing ahead anyway. We may soon need an updated dystopian parable: The Right to Watch."
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Remember the copyright bit in SPDIF? (Score:3, Interesting)
Any wall a man can build can be torn down by another man... Is it really worth all the fuss?
Re:Remember the copyright bit in SPDIF? (Score:5, Informative)
well, until i spent $1500 more on a professional dat recorder, that didn't contain it.
it's ridiculous. i wasn't even allowed to copy my own recordings. it's not like dat is a hotbed of piracy, i only recall one riaa album *ever* released to dat.
it's nice to see bogus legislature used to stop useful technology from taking hold, and the common man from being able to compete with those already in power.
Parent
Re:Remember the copyright bit in SPDIF? (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Remember the copyright bit in SPDIF? (Score:3, Interesting)
why wouldn't they?
but seriously, to play devils advocate for a moment, let's think about a scenario:
television station zzba invested heavily in an initial hdtv rollout. just like the theaters in the area, the station has been hit with economic woes. now, the content providers are mandating that
Re:Remember the copyright bit in SPDIF? (Score:5, Interesting)
"....but there is no mandate for any producer to use the broadcast flag in material they create. If you don't turn it on in your recording, then nothing should stop you from making copies."
Sounds good for phase 1. Then what happens when someone starts to take out the 'bit', and re-transmit somehow, allowing everyone to watch and copy to their heart's content. I'll tell you what happens, they change the law so that EVERYTHING *MUST* have the bit. And all players must have the bit. And by then hopefully all computer hardware, bios, O/S, & software will have DRM also. And lo and behold it'll cost a minimum of $15,000 to get 'access' to licensing the 'bit'. That $15,000 will be what pushes out you, me & the indies.
What I just described is a very small jump compared to the other things they're trying to push for now. The bit is going to be bad. If we allow them to do this, they can then close the smaller holes without any problem.
Parent
Re:Remember the copyright bit in SPDIF? (Score:5, Insightful)
Dang, and I thought my tinfoil hat was tight...
How do you reconcile the fact that hardware/software vendors and consumer groups with an interest in innovating technologies are also large contributors to political campaigns? This is a big complicated issue, and the fact that it's taken this long to get this "mandate" tells me that it's a long way from over. There are just too many diverse interests in the mix.
I'm very worried about technological mandates, and I don't like the broadcast flag because I think it puts unnecessary inhibitions in the path of users, but I think your conclusion here is a little tenuous and contrary to pretty much all of recent consumer, technological, legislative, and judicial history.
For myself, if I can't get the use I want out of a device or content, then it's irrelevant because I just won't buy the shit. DVX comes to mind as a perfect example of how consumers voted with their wallets to give a big FU to an overly restrictive technology.
Parent
Re:Remember the copyright bit in SPDIF? (Score:3, Insightful)
Thank you for your interesting comment.
But, what exactly is a FPGA? Is it a Field-Programmable Grid Array? And how would this chip be related to the previous discussion?
I'm not disputing your claim, I'm only trying to understand what you're referring to.
On Slashdot, given the wide range of the audience, expanding acronyms and including a URL or two for some background info goes a long way.
thank you,
Incorrect (Score:3, Insightful)
That's just semantics... (Score:5, Insightful)
One measly week.
Well, one week might be fine if you record something becasue you know you're going out for the night, but what the hell do you do if you're going away on a two-week vacation? What choice do you have except to miss out?
Can you imagine missing the last two weeks of 24, The West Wing, ER or whatever you're hooked on because some silly timestamped restriction is set to one week (or less)?
How do you tell your young kids that the show that you promised they could watch when they got back home from a long car journey to visit the grandparents can't be watched anymore because you exceeded the time limit? Ever tried explaining silly things like that to a screaming three year old?
Let's face it, for a lot of people, life is more hectic now than it was ten years ago. Ten years from now, it'll probably be more hectic still. What good is a timeshifting device like a VCR or a PVR if you can't timeshift with it?
Parent
Broadcast Flag. (Score:4, Funny)
HAHAHA.
Open Letter to the FCC Commissioners (Score:5, Informative)
Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20554
Dear Jonathan Adelstein,
Commissioner Kevin J. Martin
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20554
Dear Kevin Martin,
Commissioner Michael J. Copps
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20554
Dear Michael Copps,
Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20554
Dear Kathleen Abernathy,
Chairman Michael K. Powell
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20554
Dear Michael Powell,
Please allow me to take a few moments of your time in order to express my opposition to the proposed adoption of the "broadcast flag" for digital televisions. I strongly believe that this misuse of technology will do little but stifle legitimate innovation (including slowing the adoption of digital television) and infringe on the consumer's fair-use rights.
One of the most serious problems with the "broadcast flag" proposal is that it places control over marketplace innovation in the hands of the MPAA, an organization with no vested interest in innovation. In fact, the MPAA can be viewed as having more of an interest in the LACK of innovation, in that they are rooted firmly in the current technology and content distribution model. Allowing the MPAA to veto new features in digital television equipment is like giving organized crime the power to veto new wiretap laws. As a business organization, the MPAA will always act in the interest of it's members, and not the public. The result is that marketplace innovation will suffer, and consumers will have to make do with fewer features and no way to exercise their legally protected fair-use rights.
In conclusion, I urge to you avoid "broadcast flag" technology at all costs. It is a system tailor-made to appeal to the Hollywood content providers, striving to protect their distribution-based business model in the face of new technologies. Rather than adapt to the realities of the current situation, they choose to adapt the current situation to that which they desire to be reality. This situation is unworkable, in that it places unreasonable restrictions on both consumer electronics manufacturers and the consumers themselves. Please do not adopt the "broadcast flag" technology. It benefits only the MPAA, and abridges the rights of consumers.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
YOUR SIG HERE
Re:Open Letter to the FCC Commissioners (Score:4, Funny)
We at the FCC are not interested in this 'innovation' that you speak of. My job description clearly states that I'm here to help businesses make more money! In fact, why you thought it purposeful to write this letter to me I don't quite know. Why would I go against my duties as chairman of the FCC, especially when this chip implant the MPAA gave me makes everything so much better. Yeesss... that's right... come to daddy, endorphins... ahhhh.
Yours sincerely,
Michael Powell
Parent
Re:Open Letter to the FCC Commissioners (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:Open Letter to the FCC Commissioners (Score:4, Interesting)
Fair use is a very broad doctrine. It _might_ apply to literally any kind of infringement whatsoever. No one factor -- such as whether a use is a literal copy or transformative -- controls the entire analysis.
Instead, each and every time that the fair use analysis is conducted, all four factors of the fair use test (see 17 USC 107) must be considered.
The example that immediately springs to mind is if someone made a high-quality -- let's say exact copy -- of a work for noncommercial educational or research purposes.
Parent
Bottled Water, Anyone? (Score:4, Interesting)
Why should anyone in the world buy bottled water for $1.00 each if they can get water for pennies at home?
Next Up (Score:4, Interesting)
Translate this to Car talk... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Translate this to Car talk... (Score:4, Insightful)
There are no plans in the works to make your NTSC TV and TiVo illegal per se, but there are plans to make it useless. The FCC's ultimate goal is to shift all broadcast TV stations over to digital and discontinue analog broadcasts by the end of 2006 (assuming enough people are able to receive the digital broadcasts.) Their motivation is that digital TV uses less spectrum than analog TV, so they will be able to repurpose the old analog TV spectrum for other uses and no doubt make a pretty penny by auctioning the licenses. Broadcasters have been rather slow to switch over, and it makes sense that the FCC would give them stuff like the broadcast flag to encourage them to switch over faster. So in a few years, if the FCC gets their way, you won't have a choice other than digital TV with the broadcast flag.
Of course, this ignores some pretty tough facts: something like 98-99% of Americans have a television. More Americans have a TV than have telephone service at home. A sizable number of these folks probably don't have the money to just run out to Best Buy and buy a new television because the FCC says they have to. I expect to see a bunch of noise made in the news about this once the deadline approaches, followed by lots of Congressional campaigns running on the "The big bad federal government wants to take away your TV... over my dead body!" platform. This will likely lead to the analog/digital cutover deadline being pushed back significantly.
Parent
say bye bye to HDTivo (Score:5, Interesting)
Since I have DirecTV, I'm not too worried, seeing as I got the TiVo from them... but things change...
Re:say bye bye to HDTivo (Score:3, Interesting)
I think it's more likely to kill HD. For me, at least. Neither HD nor TiVo has achieved anything like "broad market penetration" so it's tough to determine who will win that battle. Essentially, it's a decision between convenience vs. quality--but the TiVo works with things out now, whereas HD requires new gear.
My bet's on TiVo.
pathetic (Score:4, Insightful)
Wake up! TV is dead. Or will be quite soon. I don't give a damn if I can watch sit-coms in high definition in 5 years and not record. I want to kill people online in high-res. I want to walk on other planets and meet interesting people in high-res.
Guess what? I already can! So good luck to broadcast technology (the name kinda says it all). A "don't copy" flag will not save you.
Here's my idea (Score:3, Interesting)
Heck, don't watch TV, movies, etc too. If you cannot get what you want out of it (i.e., fair use) don't buy it. Tell everyone in Hollywood to go f*ck themselves.
--rhad, who is sick of this shit
Re:Here's my idea (Score:4, Insightful)
An HDTV is a fine DVD viewing platform. Heck, that's about all it's good for. Considering the cost of an HDTV receiver and the dearth of programming for it, I doubt I'll be getting one - ever. This obnoxious flag can't make them any less enticing than they are now.
Parent
Just say no. (Score:5, Interesting)
More time to learn, to play, to volunteer, to socialise.
Maybe, parents will actually raise their children, take care of their households, and improve the lives of their loved-ones.
People will have the time to learn about the things their government is doing, how the politicians who represent them are acting, what the issues really are, and how to change things for the better.
Or not. I could just be dreaming.
Correcting the poster... (Score:5, Informative)
FCC Disabling VCRs in 2006 (Score:5, Insightful)
Anything that lets VCRs work will have to respect the broadcast flag (i.e. will have to fail).
Nothing will air with the broadcast flag disabled. This includes news.
Ergo, it seems perfectly reasonable to claim VCR's are being effectively banned between the next two presidential elections.
--Dan
Re:FCC Disabling VCRs in 2006 (Score:3, Informative)
Analog over the airwaves transmission stops in 2006 - as of right now. Your cable company is free to send as much analog signal into your home as they like; it's their cable, after all. And if you get satellite, they can do the same. So unless your cable company sees some compelling reason to switch to all digital, your VCR will be safe with them.
Re:FCC Disabling VCRs in 2006 (Score:3, Interesting)
No. Analog transmission is scheduled to stop in 2006, but with such a heavy level of investment in analog technology--both at the transmitter (content provider) and receiver (content consumer) ends, I highly doubt the cut-over to all digital will occur on schedule.
I mean, seriously, when it the last time you saw a technical conversion of this size and scope actually occur on schedule?
I also expect that when Joe Six-Packs T.V. stops working, the general populace
Quick Conversions (Score:4, Funny)
No doubt in the UK or USA it would have taken years for everyone to change over to the new side.
After all, the US tax department starts its year in April, thinking that that Julius Caesar bloke's reforms to the calender would never catch on.
Parent
Re:Quick Conversions (Score:3, Funny)
No: I'm pretty sure that once the change started, attrition would leave all the survivors driving on the same side of the road within days.
Re:FCC Disabling VCRs in 2006 (Score:3, Insightful)
I must disagree with you here. There are many households that will not be ABLE (read afford) to just purchase a new TV because the FCC wants to stop analog broadcasts. And what about those people who are more fortunate who have 5 TVs in their house? Think they'll run out and buy 5 new TVs? No. They might buy one, but they'll sure as hell be very unhappy about it. Analog broadcasts won't stop anytime soon, despite the FCC's mandate. Think anyone is going to buy a $200 receiver for their 10+ year old T
Re:FCC Disabling VCRs in 2006 (Score:5, Informative)
Analog transmission stops in 2006.
The US's metric conversion act of 1975 stated that the US would be fully converted to metric by 1992. Right.
Parent
Over the air only? (Score:3, Interesting)
Vibrating my airwaves (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't have an issue with a "flag" on a signal sent over a privately owned and funded cable, but the airwaves are different. If they won't let me do what I wish with a signal with enters my property, why can't I tell them not to trespass? (I sound like a militia member here....)
The broadcasting industry wants the right to send a signal into people's property without consent and then they want to place restrictions on what can be done with it?
So? (Score:3, Funny)
They didn't need to stuff this down my throat to get me to stop watching it, but it certainly won't make me take a second lood at it either now.
So I say let them piss off their own customers; in the end they'll just become irrelevant that much faster.
A little more seriously, folks... (Score:5, Insightful)
Guess what? Right now DRM, broadcast flags, and the like are geek issues. Pretty soon they're going to become Joe SixPak issues, about the time he finds out that he can't do the things he used to be able to do.
Our challenge is to be prepared, and guide Joe into pushing for the Right Things as he gets incensed at his legislators. No doubt the Dark Side will also have some proposals to attempt to placate Joe and maintain Profit. If we're thoughtful and lucky, we can guide the course of events, soon.
Parent
Easy Way to Comment (Score:5, Informative)
Please take a minute to fill out the form and submit. If you're a member, you need only enter your e-mail address, another great reason to join [eff.org] the EFF.
Small publisher comments on broadcast flag (Score:3, Informative)
This is what I sent the FCC last January.
The proposed Broadcast Flag Mandate would allocate to a few corporations a valuable government monopoly to produce and manipulate digital media. This is a vast theft from the American people and I strongly oppose its adoption.
I already see the affects of similar government mandates in the area of book publishing. I own a small company that produces electronic texts distributed over the internet. The Bowker company has a government-granted monopoly to sell and distribute ISBN numbers. Bowker in turn has developed policies that greatly favor large companies over small startups; for example, they sell 10,000 ISBN numbers for $3,000 ($.30 per ISBN), while requiring $800 for 100 ISBN numbers ($8.00 per ISBN).
Similarly, the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress, which has a government monopoly on copyright registration and assignment of catalog information for the Library of Congress, has a list of priorities for books that it will catalog for its collections. At the top of the list are books published by large publishers, which get their books cataloged through the Catalog in Publication program even before the books are published. Officially, as a small publisher, books I send to the copyright office have the lowest priority for cataloging.
This is relevant because I can compete with large publishers with a computer and free software for designing, typesetting, and distributing digital media in the form of electronic books. If the Broadcast Flag Mandate goes into effect, I will be legally prevented from acquiring or developing hardware and free software to compete with large corporations in other areas of digital media. This would encourage anti-competitive activities and monopolies, while discouraging innovation and free development of new products.
You better hope your HDTV has DVI input (Score:3, Informative)
This can be connected in multiple ways.
Many of the current TV/Monitors use component input to display 1080I. Since that can not be protected, but DVI can expect the component outputs of your HDTV reciever to start only sending a downconverted 480I signal for any content with the Broadcast flag set.
This will make a large protion of the current HTDV displays, that you paid good $$$ for, incapable of displaying 1080I.
My question is what liability do the manufactureres have that sold us those HDTV displays that no longer display any HDTV content?
Re:dystopian, yada yada (Score:5, Informative)
Chairman Michael K. Powell: mpowell@fcc.gov
Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy: kabernat@fcc.gov
Commissioner Michael J. Copps: mcopps@fcc.gov
Commissioner Kevin J. Martin: kjmweb@fcc.gov
Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein: jadelste@fcc.gov
General information, inquiries & complaints: fccinfo@fcc.gov
Freedom of Information Act requests: FOIA@fcc.gov
Comments on FCC Internet services: webmaster@fcc.gov
Elections & political candidate matters: campaignlaw@fcc.gov
1-888-225-5322 (1-888-CALL FCC) Voice: toll-free
1-888-835-5322 (1-888-TELL FCC) TTY: toll-free
(202) 418-2555 TTY: toll
(202) 418-0710 FAX
(202) 418-2830 FAX on Demand
(202) 418-1440 Elections & political candidate matters
Parent
Re:dystopian, yada yada (Score:4, Insightful)
IIRC, different kinds of communication provide differents levels of effect.
An email from 733th4Xor@hotmail.com to one of the FCC commissioners will receive a weight close to zero.
A phone call is better.
A postcard is better still.
A well-written letter on good stationary and signed is even better.
If you want really impressive effects, then you need to go the next $PARTY fundraising dinner, provide a large contribution. Then, using the telephone, you can call the boss of the FCC head and tell him you think that a particular point of view is very important to you.
Parent
Re:dystopian, yada yada (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:dystopian, yada yada (Score:3, Interesting)
Azghoul wrote:
True, but how accessible will the alternatives be?
What if the law mandated that you needed a government license to publish books? How much choice would you have for your hammock reading material? (this is exactly how it worked in Britain in the 17th and 18th centuries) Obviously a bit more extreme than the broadcast flag, but not unrelated.
Personally, I don't care that much about TV, nevermind "HDTV". I think we need to really care whe
Re:dystopian, yada yada (Score:4, Insightful)
The story works well because it described the hoops you have to live with to make it through college to get the job you desire.
I'm sure if on a different day someone told you that the Chinese shouldn't bitch about the propaganda the government puts on the radio, TV, and newspapers. Afterall, there are other alternatives, like farming some rice outside. Come on, use your imagination.
Parent
Re:dystopian, yada yada (Score:3, Insightful)
no (Score:5, Informative)
Not when all books are electronic, and you're only allowed one reading of a book.
So, perhaps, you COULD go outside with your e-reader, if the wireless authentication mechanism works, and read an e-book in your hammock.
Of course, we (the people) could create all our own entertainment, if all the tools for doing so aren't considered "copyright circumvention devices." Want to write a book? You'll need an e-reader writing license, and all the authorship slots are currently full. Paper is illegal, because it allows easy recording of potentially infringing information.
That may sound insane, but my point is that our rights are being eroded on multiple fronts, specifically, corporate control and legislation.
Honestly, I don't think it will be as bad as some people think, but I imagine it will get Pretty Bad(TM).
Parent
Re:dystopian, yada yada (Score:4, Insightful)
If not, then I should have the right to broadcast whatever I want at the same frequency, no?
Parent
Re:Press Release (Score:4, Funny)
Do Not Call List... FCC Rocks!
Okay... they are one for one now. Honestly, if they just give us free porn, they'll win the series and we'll all be happy.
Parent
Examples (Score:3, Informative)
For independent verification, talk to paladin press ( a book company ) about having to pull books off their catalog due to harassment by the government.
Yes, I agree I was able to say something here, but I
Re:Advertisers will love this (Score:3, Insightful)