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Broadcast Flag

CEA's Shapiro Warns Against "Broadcast Flag" in Senate Hearing

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 24, 2006 - 10:03am.
Washington - The president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) testified on Tuesday before the Senate Commerce Committee that "broadcast flag" technology proposed by Hollywood -- that would prohibit unauthorized copies of digital media -- could diminish innovation and undermine Americans' traditional "fair use" rights. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has asked that Congress implement an "audio flag" that would mandate devices be made so they cannot record digital broadcasts from satellite and HD Radio services. "Ordinary consumers are not pirates, and recording lawfully acquired content for private personal use is not piracy," CEA president and CEO Gary Shapiro testified. Both the CEA, which represents thousands of device makers, and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) are opposed to the proposed legislation. Also "adamantly opposed" to the idea of a federal broadcast flag is Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.), CNET News.com reported; however, Senate Commerce Committee chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) said it was "a subject that requires an act of Congress, in my opinion."
tags: CEA | Senate | Broadcast Flag | Shapiro |

"Broadcast Flag" Bills Floated by House Judiciary Committee

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 2, 2005 - 4:13am.
Washington - A number of bills to revive the "broadcast flag," or technology that would prevent consumers from making unauthorized copies of digital TV and radio broadcasts or posting them online, have been floated by the House Judiciary Committee in advance of a hearing on the issue scheduled for Thursday, Reuters reported. A federal appeals court in May struck down a broadcast flag proposal that originated from the FCC, in part ruling that the FCC was not invested with such authority. The proposed legislation would give the FCC the authority to mandate the broadcast flag for digital TV and radio broadcasts, and also prohibit the manufacture, import or sale of devices that can convert protected digital programs into the unprotected analog format. "The draft appears to be in sync with industry consensus on both analog hole and broadcast flag and we look forward to working through the legislative process to get them enacted quickly," MPAA spokesperson Gayle Osterberg told Reuters. Art Brodsky, a spokesman for Public Knowledge -- which successfully argued against the broadcast flag in the federal appellate case -- argued that, "[The proposed legislation] would give the FCC and the Patent and Trademark Office wide-ranging power and control over the development of technology while depriving consumers of rights they have enjoyed for years. These are unwarranted technological mandates."
tags: Bills | Broadcast Flag | Judiciary | Committee |

20 Lawmakers Sign Letter Asking for "Broadcast Flag" Reinstatement

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 3, 2005 - 4:04am.
Washington - In a letter to the chairman of the House subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, some 20 members of Congress asked for the "broadcast flag" digital TV anti-piracy protections recently unanimously voted down by the Federal Communications Commission to be reinstated, CNET News.com reported. Congress could still pass a law overriding the FCC ruling, which was the motivation for the bipartisan letter from Reps. Charles Pickering (R-Miss.), Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) and 18 colleagues. "Program producers will naturally be reluctant to license their high value programs for digital distribution without protection from widespread acts of infringement over the Internet," reads a section of the letter posted on News.com. Movie studios and TV producers have argued that the roll-out of digital TV technology hinges on the broadcast flag, without which they say high-definition programs will become available for free on file-sharing systems.
tags: Lawmakers | Broadcast Flag | Letter | Reinstatement |

Court Throws Out TV "Broadcast Flag," Says FCC Overstepped Authority

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 6, 2005 - 10:04am.
Washington -- A U.S. Court of Appeals ruled on Friday that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) overstepped its authority in mandating that a "broadcast flag" -- which regulates whether TV programming can be copied and prevents it from being shared online -- be embedded in consumer electronics sold in the U.S. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said that the FCC "exceeded the scope of its delegated authority" with the mandate, which would have gone into effect on July 1. In its suit against the FCC, the American Library Association had argued that the technology would keep research and teaching libraries from using the web to distribute digital material to students. The FCC's rules had mandated that all digital TVs manufactured after July 1 include the broadcast flag technology. "Courts are right to be wary when government institutions seek to regulate the specific features and functions of safe, useful consumer technology," said Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association. "Policy makers should continue to focus on the key issues that will help accelerate and ensure a consumer-friendly approach to the transition, specifically setting a hard date for ending analog television signals." Broadcasters said they would seek remedy with Congress. "Without a 'broadcast flag,' consumers may lose access to the very best programming offered on local television," said National Association of Broadcasters president Edward Fritts. "We will work with Congress to authorize implementation of a broadcast flag."
tags: Law | FCC | Broadcast Flag |

Federal Judges Question FCC Authority to Mandate TV "Broadcast Flag"

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 22, 2005 - 4:43am.
Washington -- The U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C. on Tuesday heard oral arguments in a case brought by public interest groups against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), over the agency's plans to regulate how digital TV programs may be used by consumers. At issue is the "broadcast flag," which the FCC has mandated be added to new digital TVs as a means of preventing piracy, and so that broadcasters may determine the scenarios in which viewers may make copies of programming. "The F.C.C. does not have the power to tell technology manufacturers how to build their machines," Gigi B. Sohn, co-founder of Public Knowledge, one of the groups suing the FCC, told The New York Times. CNET News.com reported that two of the three judges on the Appeals Court panel remarked on Tuesday that Congress did not grant the FCC authority to regulate the electronics industry in this way. "You're out there in the whole world, regulating. Are washing machines next?" asked Judge Harry Edwards.
tags: TV | FCC | Broadcast Flag | Federal |

Rights Groups Sue FCC Over "Broadcast Flag" Digital TV Copy Controls

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 11, 2004 - 6:20am.
Washington -- A group including digital rights advocates and librarians have filed legal briefs voicing their opposition to the "broadcast flag," a mandate from the FCC that all digital TVs and related devices contain copy-protection technology. The American Library Association, Public Knowledge, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other groups filed a petition last week asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to rule that the FCC overstepped its authority by requiring device manufacturers to incorporate certain copy-protection technologies into their products by July 2005. "The FCC's digital broadcast television mandate is a step in the wrong direction because it would make digital television cost more and do less, undermining innovation, fair use, and competition," said EFF senior intellectual property attorney Fred von Lohmann. The FCC has asked the court to put the lawsuit on hold, pending its decision on other petitions to reconsider the broadcast flag mandate.
tags: FCC | Digital TV | Broadcast Flag | Rights Groups |

FCC Mandates "Broadcast Flag" Anti-Piracy in All Digital TVs by 2005

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 5, 2003 - 8:21am.
Washington -- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced late Tuesday that by July 2005, all devices capable of receiving a digital TV signal, including PCs with TV tuners, must include technology that will prevent piracy of TV programs that contain a digital "broadcast flag". Broadcasters, who petitioned the FCC for such a ruling, will be able to insert the code into their programs, prohibiting the uploading of programs to the Internet, while maintaining limited ability for consumers to make personal copies of programs. Both the National Association of Broadcasters and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) praised the ruling. "Because so few people are capable of trafficking in the large audiovisual files today, the economic impact today is probably fairly low," MPAA executive vice president for government relations Fritz Attaway told Reuters. "But we are trying to provide for the future." Digital civil liberties group the Electronic Frontier Foundation opposed the ruling. "The FCC has decided that the way to get Americans to adopt digital TV is to make it cost more and do less," said EFF staff technologist Seth Schoen.
tags: FCC | Anti-Piracy | Broadcast Flag | Digital TVs |