Slashdot Mirror
Build Your Own TV Without Broadcast Flags
doom writes "An account of an event sponsored by the EFF, a "roll your own television" build-in. The San Francisco Bay Guardian has coverage in an article entitled Build Your TV!". From the article: "According to the FCC, the flag is going to ease the nation's transition from today's analog televisions to tomorrow's high-definition televisions. What exactly does it mean for a government agency to "ease" the transition from one kind of TV signal to another? In this case, it seems to mean making the entertainment industry feel very warm and fuzzy inside." The EFF's efforts against the flag have been covered before on Slashdot.
It means we're going to transition from a time when we have a constitutional right to record shows to a time when we don't.
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
This flag is going to be like any copy protection that we've seen to date. Those who want to steal will just get around it, and those who don't steal will be extremely inconvenienced.
"According to the FCC, the flag is going to ease the nation's transition from today's analog televisions to tomorrow's high-definition televisions."
Funny the only thing the broadcast flag is meant to ease is the minds of the media fatcats.
Just like software patents in Europe, the forces behind this (well-funded forces) will not give up until they succeed in implementing the lockdown of all media. A court ruling is just a minor speedbump in the process.
In Europe, even after near-unanamous votes against software patents, they are still about to become reality.
The court merely ruled that the FCC did not have the implicit authority to order the flag. All that is needed is a lay giving the FCC the explicit authority. That kind of law is easy to purchase.
There is not nearly enough love in the world, but there is far too much trust.
the Republicans are all about SMALLER gov't, people.
Indeed, and about BIGGER corporations...
"Money is a sign of poverty." - Iain Banks
or a major backlash which will get Congress to change the FCC's direction.
What major backlash? There aren't enough people w/HDTV yet (nevermind HDTV+recorders) that the broadcast flag would matter.
People will get their HDTV+recorders and say, "oh, we can't copy that, it makes sense, there's no such thing as timeshifting and fair use!"
They were smart about the flag... They did it before HDTV became entrenched. That way there would be no backlash because no one would know any different.
The broadcast flag is a part of a LARGER system to keep us from recording ALL programing.
i ne er/f-MO-Earth_to_congress.shtml
The way broadcast flags are mentioned its all about stopping HDTV programing from getting on the net. It makes it sound like we'll still be able to record our analog shows.
However, analog outputs will be soon be illegal on all television devices. Thus, this is about locking down ALL content.
http://www.tvtechnology.com/features/Masked-Eng
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
Except neither one of us should be required to spend time and money to bypass something that shouldn't be there anyway. We all know the flag will do nothing to slow down "piracy", its only purpose is to give the industry more control.
For example, take the DVD player. The other day I wanted to show something to one of my kids quick as we were on our way out to return the DVD's we had rented. Put in the DVD and the usual junk starts up, so I...
Hit fast foreware : Operation not permitted.
Hit the "Next Chapter" button : Operation not permitted.
We were out of time, my wife was hollering at us to get going...
Hit the Stop button : Operation not permitted.
??? You mean I'm not even allowed to Stop playing, I have to watch it???
Fortunately the MPAA can't yet override the power button on the front of the player.
Yes, I have the hardware and software that would allow me to rip a DVD, strip it of all the crap, and burn a "perfect" copy to a blank DVD-R disk. But I shouldn't have to do that just to enjoy a movie the way I want to.