quote: update - In a stunning victory for hardware makers and television buffs, a federal appeals court has tossed out government rules that would have outlawed many digital TV receivers and tuner cards starting July 1.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled Friday that the Federal Communications Commission did not have the authority to prohibit the manufacture of computer and video hardware that doesn't have copy protection technology known as the "broadcast flag." The regulations, which the FCC created in November 2003, had been intended to limit unauthorized Internet redistribution of over-the-air TV broadcasts.
...
Under the FCC rules, starting in July digital TV tuner manufacturers would have had to include the broadcast flag. The flag limits a person's ability to redistribute video clips made from the recorded over-the-air broadcasts.
But in January, a coalition of librarians and public interest groups filed suit against the regulations, arguing that they would sharply curtail the ability of librarians and consumers to make "fair use" of copyrighted works and would curb interoperability between devices. ...
I emphasized where I found things to be the most potent. The manufacturer I bought my HDTV tuner card from is in Korea, and if they didn't comply with the broadcast flag their product would have been banned. For windows I think it's one of the best cards: FusionHDTVIII/Qam. Why should Korea go the extra lengths in a foriegn market? (I don't know the numbers so I won't try and guess if the would or not.)
Personally, I think this has been a cause of HDTV customers to worry, and to not invest in products until this had been settled. This for any market is horrible. And HDTV is great!
posted
I certainly don't understand how even the farthest stretch of imagination on the BroadcastCommunicationsAct could be applied to banning receivers; let alone be in compliance with the international treaties governing transmission rights which the current CommunicationsAct makes mockery of.
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The broadcast flag would never stop pirates, all they would have to do is buy hardware without broadcast flag circuitry. It would only stop regular people from control of digital content they are legally watching. If there is a show on but I can't watch it later due to a broadcast flag, what would be the point of having Tivo? On the one hand companies like FOX and Time Warner are trying to control when and where you can watch a program, while on the other hand different parts of the company (Direct TV for Fox and Time Warner cable) are selling devices that enable people to have larger control over what they watch. Whose side is the FCC on. Ours or Hollywood?
Posts: 796 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
You are surely right. But it would have stopped upstanding citizens. Things like this are completely pointless when all they do is hurt the actual consumer. Hence why I'm glad that the broadcast flag has failed.
Posts: 121 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Nope. Without supervision of broadcast frequencies, long range radio and television communication and the like would be nigh impossible.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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