the "broadcast flag" is the brain-child of the Broadcast Protection Discussion Group (BPDG), and it allows the major studios to control what you can do with their digital broadcasts. naturally, that control is dependent on every TV, personal video recorder (PVR), and computer agreeing to play along. since nobody's really interested in things like PVRs that don't record and computers that transmit your personal details to Hollywood, you can imagine how the consumer electronics and technology industries have reacted to the idea. in response, Big Content has turned to their sock-puppets in Washington to bludgeon the dissenting parties (the technology industry, consumer electronics manufacturers, and the citizens of the United States) into line with legislation.
ignoring loud public protest, studio mouthpiece Jack Valenti has characterized the outcome of the BPDG process as "consensus," and that's more than good enough for his faithful manservant Fritz. his warchest stuffed with Big Content cash, the Senator from South Carolina wrote to Federal Communications Commission chair Mike Powell recently, urging him to give the "broadcast flag" the force of federal fiat. parroting Valenti's claim of (non-existent) consensus, Hollings extends his willing suspension of disbelief long enough to honor Big Content's generosity in the BPDG process:
[T]he content industries warrant praise for agreeing to a proposed technological solution that allows consumers to make physical copies of digital content for use on compliant devices (consumer electronics devices designed to comply with the 'broadcast flag' technology), regardless of where those devices may be.in other words, Fritz is patting Big Content on the back for allowing consumers the right to use a crippled version of the VCR.
surpassing mere suspension of disbelief and transcending into deep denial, Hollings sums up his letter with the assertion that "It is beyond dispute that the public interest would be served by regulations protecting digital broadcast content." actually, nothing about the BPDG process has been in the public interest. as i said in a post a few days back:
as for the media-consuming public -- they had no official role at all in the BDPG, despite the fact that the broadcast airwaves and copyright itself are the people's trust to be used by Big Content with our permission.
