FCC's broadcast flag plans get flagged down

[Archived in Entry]

[TV Squad] On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the FCC did not have the authority to prohibit the manufacture of computer and video hardware that doesn't have copy protection, known to many as the nefarious "broadcast flag." Barring an overturn by a higher court, this ruling means that provision for a broadcast flag must come from Congress, not the FCC. If the FCC were allowed to continue with their plans, it would've meant that future PVR developers would have to get permission from the FCC and/or Hollywood before building high-definition versions of TiVo, for example.

Some slightly related from Technorati and Google.

[Privacy Digest: Privacy News (Civil Rights, Encryption, Free Speech, Cryptography)] MPAA Giving Up on Broadcast Flag... For Now?: For instance, students might not be able to email themselves copies of projects incorporating digital video content because no secure system exists for email transmission. "The goal of the flag was not to impede a consumer's ability to copy or use content lawfully in the home, nor was the policy intended to 'foreclose use of the Internet to send digital broadcast content where it can be adequately protected from indiscriminate redistribution,'" the report said, quoting from the FCC order.

[Privacy Digest: Privacy News (Civil Rights, Encryption, Free Speech, Cryptography)] CommDaily: MPAA May Not Seek Broadcast Flag in DTV Bill.: The Motion Picture Association of America is unlikely to push for a broadcast flag component in DTV legislation establishing a 2008 hard date because the bill's main author, House Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX), is against the provision. Meanwhile, the MPAA will keep briefing House and Senate members on a broadcast flag bill's importance and seek other ways to get the content protections it wants.

[Chris Lanier's Blog] Broadcast Flag to Officially Die?: MPAA May Not Seek Broadcast Flag in DTV Bill | The Motion Picture Association of America is unlikely to push for a broadcast flag component in DTV legislation establishing a 2008 hard date because the bill's main author, House Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX), is against the provision. Meanwhile, the MPAA will keep briefing House and Senate members on a broadcast flag bill's importance and seek other ways to get the content protections it wants.

[LawLawLaw: Erik J. Heels] LawLawLaw 2005-05-17: Down FCC's BroadcastFlag (2005-05-06) "In a stunning victory for hardware makers and television buffs... broadcast, but not as good as what you'd get from ripping CDs into MP3s with the default settings in iTunes

[Furdlog] EFF Broadcast Flag Speculations: Possible Implications of the Broadcast Flag. While the broadcast flag is intended to “prevent the indiscriminate redistribution of [digital broadcast] content over the Internet or through similar means,” the goal of the flag was not to impede a consumer’s ability to copy or use content lawfully in the home, nor was the policy intended to “foreclose use of the Internet to send digital broadcast content where it can be adequately protected from indiscriminate redistribution.” However, current technological limitations have the potential to hinder some activities which might normally be considered “fair use” under existing copyright law. For example, a consumer who wished to record a program to watch at a later time, or at a different location (time-shifting, and space-shifting, respectively), might be prevented when otherwise approved technologies do not allow for such activities, or do not integrate well with one another, or with older, “legacy” devices. In addition, future fair or reasonable uses may be precluded by these limitations.

[Roemerman on Record] MPAA set back: MPAA set back More good news on the Broadcastflag battle front”¦ Technorati Tags: broadcastflag fair use DRM FCC MPAA

[News.com.com] Politics | FCC's broadcast flag: It's back? | News.blog | CNET ...: The draft bill says, simply, that the FCC will "have authority to adopt regulations governing digital television apparatus necessary to control the indiscriminate redistribution of digital television broadcast content over digital networks." The District of Columbia Circuit nixed the flag on the grounds that the FCC didn't have the authority. This language would clear that up.

[Bpdg.blogs.eff.org] Consensus at Lawyerpoint: As part of this project, EFF will be teaching people to build their own personal video recorders (PVRs) with HD capability and no content-control restrictions. These devices will continue to work (and may lawfully be given away or sold) after the broadcast flag rule goes into effect next year. Unlike some contemporary commercial PVRs, they will not impose any technological restrictions on how you can use your recorded programming, and they will facilitate upgrades and enhancements. The initial focus of the PVR effort is on the impressive MythTV project, which already has DTV capability plus features that compare favorably with commercial PVRs.

[Slashstar.com] Loosely Coupled // Tim Marman's Weblog : Broadcast flag overturned ...: There is of course speculation that Congress will grant the necessary authority to make the Broadcast flag go through. Copyfighter Donna points to Mike Goodwin's speculation that this won't actually happen. Mike says:

[Techlawadvisor.com] Induce Act Blog (intellectual property law blog): Big decision. Analysis to come -- but here's the link to Ernest Miller's coverage (hat tip to Instapundit): Victory in Broadcast Flag Case! FCC Has No Authority Says Court. Go to his article. Here's the heart of the DC Circuit decision:

[Pvrblog.com] Broadcast Flag shot down! | PVRblog: I was just about to announce that the EFF is throwing another build-in,where they have an open invitation for those wanting to buildHD-recording, linux based PVR machines which would be illegal afterJuly 1 of this year. Now that they've won this battle, it doesn't have the same urgency (less than two months was left before the lock-down), but the event in San Francisco is still going off on Saturday, May 21st, as both a celebration and a hacking fest. Details follow: