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."
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?
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)
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: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 when similar controls start changing the openness of the net, though.
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
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.
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.
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 they broadcast with a content flag. being early adopters, their equipment isn't flexible, and simply can't be "re-flashed" to send the new bit.
they have a choice, get congress to pass a law requiring all consumer devices to set a flag on content that is missing a copyright flag, or force the early adopters to go broke redeploying.
since we already know that the current administration is very pro big-business, which way do you think they'll lean?
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.
Over the air only? (Score:3, Interesting)
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 might just get a might bit fired up over this whole issue and start calling for the folks in Washington's heads.
DTV Internet distribution is already very unlikely (Score:2, Interesting)
Nope. But the "average citizen" is capable of such stupidity.
There are still people out there who don't understand that files take up space/bandwidth. And will create high-quality images and wonder why they wobn't fit on a floppy disk.
Tiggs(I only wish I was joking!)
A Good Thing (Score:2, Interesting)
Seriously, though, you do not have a divine right to receive television signals in the format you demand. If broadcasters want to encrypt signals so they only work with DRM enabled TVs then so be it. (Though you do have a right to hack the TV you own and manufacturers have a right to make their TV however they want, regardless of what government says, as per the most basic principle of property rights upon which all rights are implemented.) So stop whining about how this will cut into your ability to see every episode of "Surviver" reality TV and start opening your mind to real reality.
Re:dystopian, yada yada (Score:2, Interesting)
The broadcasters are granted the "right" to broadcast over a regulated public medium for the common good. So the question becomes, does the broadcast flag work for that common good? As television is used largely for entertainment, I think the broadcast flag will hold little harm. I for one will not die if I cannot record "Friends". But again, this must be guarded against to prevent abuse that would control the flow of important information, or, as stated by another poster, raise the barrier to entry for small broadcasters too high (as if it wasn't high enough).
It seems that also at issue here is whether the broadcast reciever has any rights over the broadcast. Of course, the famous Sony case says that at least we have the right to time-shift the broadcast. As the broadcast flag prevents us from time-shifting, this seems clearly illegal.
I guess I'm still conflicted. But then again, illegal is illegal...
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.