Rules would require recorders to encrypt TV shows

[Mark Holtz]

From USA Today:

Rules would require recorders to encrypt TV shows

Federal regulators this month are expected to adopt controversial rules requiring new technology in electronics products to prevent digital TV shows from being traded on the Internet the way some music is shared today.

TV broadcasters say the "broadcast flag" will not stop consumers from copying shows but is needed to protect programs from being pirated online. "I own 'The Simpsons,"' says Fox's Andrew Setos. "Why should I license my show ... if it's on the Internet?"

Full article from Yahoo/USA Today (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=677&e=7&u=/usatoday/20031017/bs_usatoday/11907915) and reprinted in Detroit News (http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0310/17/technology-299984.htm).

[Dave]

From USA Today:

Rules would require recorders to encrypt TV shows

Federal regulators this month are expected to adopt controversial rules requiring new technology in electronics products to prevent digital TV shows from being traded on the Internet the way some music is shared today.

TV broadcasters say the "broadcast flag" will not stop consumers from copying shows but is needed to protect programs from being pirated online. "I own 'The Simpsons,"' says Fox's Andrew Setos. "Why should I license my show ... if it's on the Internet?"

Full article from Yahoo/USA Today (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=677&e=7&u=/usatoday/20031017/bs_usatoday/11907915) and reprinted in Detroit News (http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0310/17/technology-299984.htm).

What it is really going to be about is Hollywood is no longer wanting to have free airwaves. They want to incorporate the flag system in all electronic devices that can record shows on TV and the internet. The only way to record shows in the future would to buy new equipment unless you already have cable, satellite or where you are already paying for it. There was a real good article in the Washington Post last week about it also. Anyone who visits the dslreports site may have had a chance to read it. The MPAA is really going to lobby hard on this one. You might want to keep an eye out on its progress.

[TNGTony]

This flag system worked so well with DVD players didn't it? :)

See ya
Tony

[Dave]

This flag system worked so well with DVD players didn't it? :)

See ya
Tony

Just a short update on this subject. The MPAA has threatened not to show any movies in HDTV unless this rule is put in place and enforced. There's another article about it over at dslreports.com. If/or when the FCC does pass this ruling you will have to update equipment or cable or satellite, they will have another software update to make to your equipment. Or you will need a new HDTV set with the FLAG SYSTEM on it to view your HDTV movies and shows.

[thescrub]

Let them not show it. Let them try not to. there is so much money that Hollywood makes after a release has finished at the theater they can't afford to stop showing their movies in other formats. Once more of the public gets HDTV they won't tolerate anything else. See who blinks first, the buying public or the content industry.

[Mark Holtz]

I bet you the same thing that happened to DVDs will happen to HDTV. Initally, the studios were reluctant to release movies on DVD for fear of ease of copying to VHS.

Five years later, the studios are enjoying the sales from DVDs, with the selection for DVDs at the stores getting larger, and the VHS selections are getting smaller--if not eliminated entirely.

[Ken_F]

The only way to record shows in the future would to buy new equipment unless you already have cable, satellite or where you are already paying forThe broadcast flag won't have any affect on current equipment. Current equipment will ignore the flag. The broadcast flag will only be "seen" by future hardware sold after a certain date set by the FCC. The MPAA and broadcasters hope (pray? dream?) that it will help keep DTV/HDTV content off the Internet as broadband connections become faster.

Recorders supporting the flag will be required to save content in a way that prevents it from being readily distributed on computers and the Internet. For example, a HDTV DVD recorder might be required to encrypt content on the DVD. This will limit your ability to view the recording on a computer and in a standard DVD player without a special "secure" program, but it will have no bearing on your actual ability to view the recording in the device that made it.

The broadcast flag mandate will also place additional requirements on PC HDTV recorders, so some of these existing PC DTV products may no longer be sold (until they are modified to encrypt their recordings, for example) after some future date.

The good news: Last month, the FCC ruled that consumers are allowed to make unlimited copies of content broadcast over the airwaves. Of course, copies on your computer don't count. :nono2:

[jhickman]

The broadcast flag won't have any affect on current equipment. Current equipment will ignore the flag. The broadcast flag will only be "seen" by future hardware sold after a certain date set by the FCC. The MPAA and broadcasters hope (pray? dream?) that it will help keep DTV/HDTV content off the Internet as broadband connections become faster.

Recorders supporting the flag will be required to save content in a way that prevents it from being readily distributed on computers and the Internet. For example, a HDTV DVD recorder might be required to encrypt content on the DVD. This will limit your ability to view the recording on a computer and in a standard DVD player without a special "secure" program, but it will have no bearing on your actual ability to view the recording in the device that made it.

The broadcast flag mandate will also place additional requirements on PC HDTV recorders, so some of these existing PC DTV products may no longer be sold (until they are modified to encrypt their recordings, for example) after some future date.

The good news: Last month, the FCC ruled that consumers are allowed to make unlimited copies of content broadcast over the airwaves. Of course, copies on your computer don't count. :nono2:

The music industry started out claiming that they wanted to put copy protection on CDs that would allow recording of first generation copies for personal use but that second generation copies would be stopped, supposedly to prevent distribution on the Internet. Instead they went to copy protection that wouldn't allow any digital copies, and could possibly even damage CD-ROMs if they're played on them. In other words the record industry lied and used dirty tactics that prevented people from making legal copies for thjeir own personal use, which is a violation of fair use laws. How do we know that the movie industry won't lie to the public as well?