Broadcast Flag All But Approved 431
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."
dystopian, yada yada (Score:2, Insightful)
What a crock. There has, and always will be, alternatives. While it's entirely appropriate for concerns to be raised now, to expect that we'll end up with some sort of "Evil Corporate Control" over what we can do with our lives is kind of paranoid, don't you think?
I mean, we COULD actually just go outside, sit in a hammock and read a book, couldn't we? Television entertains me less and less as time goes on (though I won't even try to claim I'm one of those who doesn't have one / never watches it).
Incorrect (Score:3, Insightful)
While stars make money... (Score:1, Insightful)
Translate this to Car talk... (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?
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.
Re:Remember the copyright bit in SPDIF? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Remember the copyright bit in SPDIF? (Score:2, Insightful)
Good point. I'll get rid of the password on my root account immediately.
You miss my point. If 95% of the world's population wanted to 0wN your box you probably could do just as you suggested.
My point is simple, why build walls where everyone wants to walk? If the system tries to impose restrictions which seem pointless to mostly everyone we'll end up with a majority doing just what we didn't want them to do in the first place.
If so, the system is flawed, or society
Re:Translate this to Car talk... (Score:1, Insightful)
They have to plan for the future (Score:2, Insightful)
They have to plan for the future. When CDs came out could people rip them, encode to MP3 and share on P2P networks?
Nowdays you can find lossless rips (typically Monkey's Audio [monkeysaudio.com]) on the edonkey2000 [emule-project.net] network. Entire (non-transcoded) DVDs are also being shared somewhere. I haven't seen this firsthand but I've seen people talking about it. It's only a matter of time before those DTV shows become easy to share. In fact smaller DTV (though not high-definition) rips are already being shared (mostly music videos).
I'm not defending the broadcast flag, and I'm sure it'll get hacked and the stuff will get shared anyways, but I can see why they're at least trying to do it.
But the broadcast spectrum is for the public good (Score:1, Insightful)
It is we the people to whom belongs the broadcast spectrum, and not to fictional legal entities dictated into existence by rogue courts 160 years ago.
I tell you, we have no representatives in our government, and those who purport to be are illegitimate, for they certainly represent no one I know, old or young, slaving away for the fictional creations of sick and twisted bigots, every day of our lives.
Demand, friends, that if these entities wish the privilege to exist and go about their ways in our nation, that they submit themselves to the will and common good of the people.
That they are fictional legal entities and we are living breathing human beings is all the justification that we need, and do not let anyone tell you otherwise.
Demand that if they wish to have the right to use our broadcast spectrum, or to sell electronic devices in our great nation, that they will do so on our terms; they will allow for and not so much as move an inch to infringe upon our ability to record, replay, and redistribute what is broadcast into our homes and across all of our lands, even through our bodies.
It is our right.
Re:dystopian, yada yada (Score:1, Insightful)
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:dystopian, yada yada (Score:1, Insightful)
However, you are also correct that this control should be looked at very carefully to avoid corporate abuse that could limit dissemination of important information; e.g. newscasts.
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.
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.
Even that's not enough anymore.... (Score:2, Insightful)
We all know that legislation doesn't win customers. No customers, no product. No product, no business. No business - more legislation - because that'll fix it.
Build a better mousetrap and the world will come knocking on your door.
The Broadcast flag is NOT a better mousetrap - what the world needs is a better Buffy!
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?
Re:dystopian, yada yada (Score:3, Insightful)
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.
The right to watch what, exactly? (Score:2, Insightful)
So Instead... (Score:2, Insightful)
The approval, expected as early as next week, would be another step along the long road to the higher-quality, crisper digital signals, which have been slowed because of worries about piracy, high-priced equipment and limited available programming.
...We'll have copy-protected signals that are subject to limited availability and still require high-priced equipment to view? Sweet.
Re:Bottled Water, Anyone? (Score:2, Insightful)
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?
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.
Re:dystopian, yada yada (Score:3, Insightful)
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.
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.
Re:Advertisers will love this (Score:3, Insightful)
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 TV that isn't worth $200? Again, no.
After all, just THINK of the outcry from the TV networks and the TV viewers if half the fans of Survivor couldn't see the next series. :)
Since the FCC's mandate deals with over the air broadcasts, the only thing that really needs to be looked at are the number of homes with cable and those without. Last I checked (and I could be wrong now) the number of homes with cable were not the majority.
KhyronRe:Remember the copyright bit in SPDIF? (Score:2, Insightful)
he elimination of Tivo-type PVR devices
I agrre with you, this is their ultimate goal, however, as soon as my Tivo is rendered useless, I will cancel my cable service. If I can not watch TV on my terms, then I will not watch TV at all. There is no such things as "Must See TV".
Re:Let's be a little real here. (Score:2, Insightful)
Then you are a thief. You know it's not a free gift but because it suits your thieving personality you choose to treat it as such.
No one is forcing you to watch this stuff. Vote with your wallet and don't by into their product. But by thieving it you admit they have a product you want, but are not prepared to pay for it. No different than going into a store and taking candy.
Truth hurts.
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,
WTF? (Score:3, Insightful)
Oh... I get it... every new medium that comes along should have a new set of laws surrounding it, right? No. Fair-use should mean fair-use... regardless of the medium.
On the other hand... why would anyone want to go to the trouble of recording a movie that's aired on TV? I mean seriously... they're gonna have commercials and be edited to hell. Go rent the DVD if you want to watch it... or borrow it from a friend.
I can understand why there's so much outcry against the copy-control bit, but honestly, if applied to cable TV, do you think networks like Comedy Central are going to use the bit to prohibit people from TiVo-ing stuff like South Park? Fuck no. The only practical application this thing has is for the movie channels (HBO, et cetera) and personally, you're better off renting the flick. Get NetFlix or something.
Re:Remember the copyright bit in SPDIF? (Score:3, Insightful)
I fully expect the "broadcast flag" in all media will be set by default to the most restrictive setting (no recording at all?). Why wouldn't they do this? It would shut down all home recording of TV for any purpose (time-shifting, education, watching shows not carried by your local broadcaster, etc). I haven't seen the final rules, so perhaps the most restrictive setting will be less than "no recording at all." Maybe "record, but play back only once and delete thereafter?"
Mandatory copy-prevention laws are MUCH more dangerous now that we have the DMCA. I was never too concerned about Macrovision, since there are ways around it if you really want to record something, and it's within your legal rights. But there is no legal way around a digital system. (technically you *are* allowed to hack it *yourself*, but you're not allowed to distribute automatic hacking tools - and very, very few people have the knowledge to hack a DRM system on their own)... Outside DMCA jurisdiction this is not a big deal, but here in the US it will get harder and much more expensive to obtain "unrestricted" equipment
Or consumer-level recording equipment will add the broadcast flag automatically, preventing you from making copies of your own stuff. If this sounds like fantasy, it's not. I use a consumer MiniDV deck for dumping my CG animation to tape. Several times it has refused to record DV streams or dupe VHS tapes (of my own work) with some kind of "copying prevented" warning. I expect this kind of behavior to show up a lot more often if copy-prevention bits are mandated.
Plus it seems that mandatory copy-prevention is the best way to kill new recording media (R.I.P DAT for consumers, SDMI, "Secure" Digital, etc).
The replies may be right about this being a knee-jerk reaction by the MPAA. Perhaps they do not currently see the consequences for consumer recording, but I feel it acutely, and it's just too tempting to close the "final loophole" and shut off all consumer recording forever.
My hope is that Apple or even Microsoft will end-run around this whole mess by encouraging media distribution in a format not controlled by the mandate (Quicktime, WMV, etc). MS seems really eager to convert broadcasters and optical video discs to WMV; if that happens, anything goes. Of course MS will have its DRM system, but I'm actually a lot less scared of DRM by Apple or Microsoft than DRM by the MPAA or TV broadcasters.