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EFF And MPAA On Broadcast Flags
mpawlo writes: "Greplaw reports that a broadcast flag is a digital tagging technique used for television programs distributed through digital TV stations. The broadcast flag is used as information stating that the program may not be redistributed. It is not your everyday digital watermarking technique. The idea is to mandate a standard for a broadcast flag. The content providers, through The Motion Picture Association ('MPAA'), will most likely aim for the standard to be lobbied into a law through The Broadcast Protection Discussion Group. Hence, the law would require all hardware able to play the digital TV content to carry broadcast flag equipment (not playing unmarked content). The Electronic Frontier Foundation ('EFF') fears that a law stipulating the standard would threaten creativity. The MPAA has published a list of frequently asked questions ('FAQ') regarding broadcast flags. The EFF has commented the MPAA FAQ."
The EFF version has (I believe, based on a quick scan) all of the content from both the MPAA version and the EFF version.
You can skip MPAA document and go right to the EFF version without missing anything.
-Pete
Soccer Goal Plans
not playing unmarked content
Where did the poster get this bit of info? I see nothing about this in the FAQ, which seems to indicate the opposite, and the FAQ appears to be the only deep link in the article.
The only purpose this seems to serve is to allow the Broadcast providers know when someone stupid is redistibuting their stuff.
The last point of the EFF FAQ:
Q: When the broadcast flag is implemented, can I record any TV program with my existing digital player/recorder and watch it later at more convenient time?
MPAA answer: Yes. If you own an early model digital player/recorder, you will be able to record and playback time-shifted digital recordings of flagged broadcasts. These digital recordings will also play on legacy DVD players. However, when Broadcast Flag-compliant DTV receivers are introduced in the marketplace, their recordings will only play on other compliant players and not on older (legacy) devices. Of course, you can still record and playback digital programs with any existing analog videocassettes recorders/players. The broadcast flag does not affect what you have been able to do in the analog world.
EFF comment: This answer confirms that "Compliant" devices produced under the BPDG-proposed rules are less capable than current-generation devices.
i wonder if they also record device-specific information. like preventing me to watch a movie i recorded at my friend's house (digitally of course)
Stallman's "Right to Read"
I guess, what doesn't kill us makes us stupid.
You don't mean "already". You mean "currently (despite the efforts of the MPAA)".
2001: US prerecorded videocassette sales are approximately $4 billion.
This may be a very naive question, but I am still curious.
Why do organizations which are obviously selfish (ignoring specifics), such as the MPAA, have better luck at lobbying for legislation than organizations which are obviously sincere and looking out for the people, such as the EFF?
Yes, I'm sure that money exchanges hands and that there is a little corruption involved. However, I cannot see how there is *that* much corruption to justify things like the DeCSS outcome and the undeserved resilience of the DMCA. Do most legislators really buy what the MPAA says?
I know the EFF is too honest to slip any money under the table, but I (perhaps naively) don't believe that the MPAA benefits too much from those tactics, so it seems like there has to be something else.
I have also spoken to a few politicians (Senators), and they always seem to be at least moderately intelligent and concerned. Yes, I know most of that is an act, but I can't see how a group of people of average (or better than average) intelligence can come to the conclusions that the US government has in recent times.
I fear that things like this are going to go MPAA's way, and I don't even understand how that's possible...
Source code is a lot like a parachute; it needs to be open in order to function properly.