EFF Begins Digital Television Liberation Project

Dozix007 writes "One year from today, on July 1, 2005, an FCC regulation known as the Broadcast Flag will lock up your digital television signals. But EFF's "DTV Liberation Project" aims to help the public keep over-the-air programming free. The Broadcast Flag, which places copy controls on DTV signals, attempts to stop people from making digitally-perfect copies of television shows and redistributing them. It also stops people from making perfectly legitimate personal copies of broadcasts. More disturbing, the Broadcast Flag will outlaw the import and manufacture of a whole host of personal video recorders (PVRs), TiVo-like devices that send DTV signals into a computer for backup, editing and playback. After the Broadcast Flag regulations go into effect, all PVR technologies must be Flag-compliant and 'robust' against user modification -- and that means, once again, that the entertainment industry is trying to tell you what you can do with your own machines."

Comments

Au contrair

[Anonymous Coward]

attempts to stop people from making digitally-perfect copies of television shows and redistributing them.

Because we all know it's impossible to get dvd quality of our fav. TV shows over the net

Re:I still don't really see what hte big deal is..

[bgeer]

I agree totally, I mean it's the broadcaster's Intellectual Property and they have the right to decide what you can do with it. You don't have any right to use it in a different way than was intended by the distributor.

By the way, it is not intended or permitted for this post to be replied to. Anyone illegally replying to this post will be arrested.

Re:Call to arms

[Anonymous Coward]

Call to arms?

But that sounds like.... effort?

I'd really rather just sit here and post on /.

Thanks for the offer though.

(Question: Will this be flamebait, funny, or just ignored 'cos it's AC?)

Reminds me of a Family Guy moment

[foidulus]

Peter wants a new vcr for Christmas because of what happened to his old one.
They flashback to Peter standing by his tv with a football game on and pushes a button on his vcr, then cops come busting through the door and ask if he has permission from both CBS and the NFL. Peter sheepishly admits that he only has permission from the NFL, and the police then proceed to destroy his VCR.
Truth is stranger than fiction it seems

Re:Reminds me of a Family Guy moment

[MrBlue VT]

Ship in international waters with a large broadcasting tower.

Bart: What are those guys doing?
Homer: They're broadcasting Major League Baseball with implied oral consent instead of express written consent.

Re:I still don't really see what hte big deal is..

[General Wesc]

Sounds a lot like the Windows world that took over. But I've heard there's some weird thing that some people use instread. A penguin with open sores or something. Maybe the same thing will happen for television.

Or maybe not. :-(

Re:I still don't really see what hte big deal is..

[LiMikeTnux]

I agree totally, I mean it's the broadcaster's Intellectual Property and they have the right to decide what you can do with it. You don't have any right to use it in a different way than was intended by the distributor. ;)

Re:Missed the Point

[jrockway]

Yeah d00d, the overclockers.com people are legal experts.

Oh wait no. They don't even know anything about computers.

"Upon attaching the waterblock to my penis, I began to notice that I know nothing about computers."