Slashdot Mirror
Broadcast Flag All But Approved
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."
Why should anyone in the world buy bottled water for $1.00 each if they can get water for pennies at home?
Closing the analog hole
Look, we know Hollywood hates TiVo. OK, more like terrified of it. Seems like this will be one way to kill a TiVo (or other similar device) foray into HDTV.
Since I have DirecTV, I'm not too worried, seeing as I got the TiVo from them... but things change...
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.
VOS/Interreality project: www.interreality.org
These broadcast flags may be a Bad Thing. But, if we all watch less TV, the world may be a better place.
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.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
"....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.
Why are there only 19 people folding@home for slashdot?
When the first article about this was posted it mentionned that the flag would be used for over the air broadcasts only because "people already paid for cable" or something. I don't see this in the current article. If this affects only HD over-the-air broadcasts I doubt many people will notice the difference. However, if it affects all cable, dish and OtA digital broadcasts it will definitely hurt HD adoption. Finally, my HDTV accepts only DVI and component inputs and uses an external decoder. If the info has to be sent to my TV unencoded how hard can it be to intercept that signal?
These people look deep into my soul and assign me a number based on the order I joined.
Sadly, you have no idea what you're talking about.
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.
-- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.