Broadcast flag
This article possibly contains original research. (October 2009) |
A broadcast flag is a
In the
FCC ruling
Officially called "Digital Broadcast Television Redistribution Control," the FCC's rule is in 47 CFR 73.9002(b) and the following sections, stating in part: "No party shall sell or distribute in interstate commerce a Covered
The rule's Demodulator Compliance Requirements insists that all HDTV demodulators must "listen" for the flag (or assume it to be present in all signals). Flagged content must be output only to "protected outputs" (such as
Since broadcast flags could be activated at any time, a viewer who often records a program might suddenly find that it is no longer possible to save their favorite show. This and other reasons lead many[
The Demodulator Robustness Requirements are difficult to implement in
The GNU Radio project already successfully demonstrated that purely software-based demodulators can exist and the hardware rule is not fully enforceable.
Current status
In American Library Association v. FCC, 406 F.3d 689 (D.C. Cir. 2005),
On May 1, 2006, Sen.
On May 18, 2008,
On August 22, 2011, the FCC officially eliminated the broadcast flag regulations.[5]
Related technologies
Radio broadcast flag and RIAA
With the coming of digital radio, the recording industry is attempting to change the ground rules for copyright of songs played on radio. Currently, over the air (i.e. broadcast but not Internet) radio stations may play songs freely but
European Broadcast Flag
At present no equivalent signal is typically used in European
In the UK, the BBC introduced content protection restrictions in 2010 on Free to Air content by licensing data necessary to receive the service information for the Freeview HD broadcasts.[citation needed] However the BBC have stated the highest protection applied will be to allow only one copy to be made.[citation needed]
ISDB
ISDB broadcasts are protected as to allow the broadcast to be digitally recorded once, but to not allow digital copies of the recording to be made. Analog recordings can be copied freely. It is possible to disallow the use of analog outputs, although this has yet to be implemented. The protection can be circumvented with the correct hardware and software.
DVB-CPCM
The Digital Video Broadcasting organization is developing DVB-CPCM which allows broadcasters (especially PayTV broadcaster) far more control over the use of content on (and beyond) home networks.[citation needed] The DVB standards are commonly used in Europe and around the world (for satellite, terrestrial, and cable distribution), but are also employed in the United States by Dish Network.[citation needed] In Europe, some entertainment companies were lobbying to legally mandate the use of DVB-CPCM.[citation needed] Opponents[who?] fear that mandating DVB-CPCM will kill independent receiver manufacturers that use open source operating systems (e.g., Linux-based set-top boxes.)
Pay-per-view use of broadcast flag
In the US, since April 15, 2008,
See also
- CGMS-A
- Copy Control Information
- Digital Millennium Copyright Act
- Digital Rights Management
- Digital Transition Content Security Act
- Family Entertainment and Copyright Act
- Evil bit
- Image Constraint Token
- Selectable Output Control
- Serial Copy Management System
References
- ^ "USCA-DC Opinions - Search - 04-1037b.pdf" (PDF). Pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
- ^ Stevens, Ted (2006-05-01). "Communications, Consumer's Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-07-02. Retrieved 2006-07-07.
- ^ "Sen.John E. Sununu amendment". Publicknowledge.org. Archived from the original on 2006-07-01. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
- ^ Sandoval, Greg (2008-05-18). "Microsoft confirms Windows adheres to broadcast flag". News.com. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
- ^ "FCC eliminated rules". Politico.com. 22 August 2011. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
- "Digital Broadcast Television Redistribution Control" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-04-05., October 1, 2005.
External links
- Copyright Protection of Digital Television: The “Broadcast Flag”
- Electronic Frontier Foundation's Broadcast Flag page
- The Broadcast Flag and "Plug & Play": The FCC's Lockdown of Digital Television
- U.S. District Court shoots down broadcast flag (CNET)
- Broadcast Flag: Media Industry May Try to Steal the Law - June 2005 MP3 Newswirearticle
- Circuit Court ruling striking down (PDF format)