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View Full Version : Broadcast Flag: Hollywood's Plan to Control How You Watch TV........HELP STOP EM!!!!



dannyboy79
March 19th, 2007, 01:12 PM
Secret Identity:
The Broadcast Flag is a signal Hollywood wants embedded in all over-the-air digital television signals. Devices forced by law to obey the flag will only be able to output to other gadgets that restrict your legitimate uses.

Corruptible Power: Remote Control of your TV, Elimination of Open Source Recorders
Today, you can use any device you like with your TV: VCR, TiVO, DVD recorder, or a PC. With the Broadcast Flag, future innovators will need permission from the FCC and Hollywood before they can build new features into their TV receivers and recorders. Hollywood sued to stop home video-recorders in the 1980s; they grumbled and threatened DVR companies to drop the "skip ads" feature. With the Broadcast Flag, they'll get to veto future TV gadgets before you ever see them.

Broadcast Flag's second Hollywood power is to cut off open-source development from accessing TV. Devices must be designed so that users cannot modify the gadgets, or access the TV data-streams directly themselves. This rules out open source, user-modifiable digital TV software like MythTV or GNU Radio.

Vulnerability: Your Voice
Hollywood tried to get the Broadcast Flag enforced by the FCC -- but we took them to court and had the flag thrown out. Now, they're lobbying Congress to regain their powers. We successfully fought off a fistful of attempts to sneak the Broadcast Flag into law last congress. Now tell your representatives below to vote against the Broadcast Flag, whenever it appears again.

PLEASE GO HERE AND HELP THE OPEN SOURCE CAUSE!!!!!!
https://secure.eff.org/site/Advocacy?JServSessionIdr004=skc2yrq5h1.app13b&cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=231

beefcurry
March 19th, 2007, 01:31 PM
You know, some chinese firm will come up with a cheap way to record digital signals, or some way to bypass the broadcast flag. They have been getting around encrypted cable tv with modded decrypters for decades :P What makes you think I paid for all my Cable Channels? :)

bonzodog
March 19th, 2007, 01:54 PM
You do realise that this will *only* happen in the USA?

They cannot enforce this outside there. Please remember people, the US is NOT the world, and an awful lot of People elsewhere need not worry about it.

dannyboy79
March 19th, 2007, 02:16 PM
using cable black box descramblers is illegal, and this is NOT why I have posted this. This is for all the honest people out there who are worried about "the man" taking away their rights of digital content according to the fair-use rights act. Even if you are getting cable illegally, here is one proposed solution, it looks like it may be pretty hard to circumvent this:
http://www.eff.org/IP/broadcastflag/20011220_fox_news_corp_bpdg_proposal.pdf
but like you said I am sure it will be circumvented eventually but why let the government control us even more!!!!!???????!!!!

here is an explaination more in detail of what they're proposing.

http://www.eff.org/IP/DVB/dvb_briefing_paper.php

dannyboy79
March 19th, 2007, 02:19 PM
You do realise that this will *only* happen in the USA?

They cannot enforce this outside there. Please remember people, the US is NOT the world, and an awful lot of People elsewhere need not worry about it.

I can't say that for sure and I am not sure how you can. Are you directly involved in the project?

Quoted from the article,
"But an inter-industry organization that creates television and video specifications used in Europe, Australia, and much of Africa and Asia is laying the foundation for a far different future -- one in which major content providers get a veto over innovation and consumers face draconian digital rights management (DRM) restrictions on the use of TV content."

fenian
March 21st, 2007, 01:35 AM
You do realise that this will *only* happen in the USA?

They cannot enforce this outside there. Please remember people, the US is NOT the world, and an awful lot of People elsewhere need not worry about it.

I wouldn't be so sure that this would only be a matter of concern for people in the US only you can read more here (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070314-dvb-broadcast-flag-will-require-government-support-but-may-not-get-it.html)

And even more important is the WIPO treaty which you can read about here (http://www.eff.org/IP/WIPO/broadcasting_treaty/)and here (http://www.publicknowledge.org/issues/wipobroadcasters).