Miniver
August 4th, 2004, 09:42 PM
EFF Urges FCC to Resist a "Broadcast Flag" for Digital Radio
On Monday, EFF filed its second set of comments urging the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) not to adopt a
"broadcast flag" for next-generation digital radio (also
known as "HD Radio"). The Recording Industry Association of
America (RIAA) has asked the FCC to adopt such a flag along
with mandatory "content protection" restrictions, for all
future digital radio receivers and recorders.
What the RIAA is seeking here is intrusive federal regulations
for a broadcast medium in its infancy, on technologies that
do not yet exist, to restrict perfectly legal activities - all
in the name of addressing an as-yet nonexistent threat. The
industry is evidently afraid that music fans will soon be able
to buy something that would function as a TiVo for radio - e.g.,
a device that would record digital radio broadcasts,
disaggregate them into individual songs, and "space shift"
the recordings to other devices.
EFF believes that a TiVo for radio is a pretty great idea - one
that innovators should be allowed to test in the marketplace
without preemptive government interference. In our comments,
we point out that it is perfectly legal to make and use these
kinds of products under existing copyright laws. We also point
out that there is nothing unique about digital radio where
recording is concerned. Music fans can already record music
from analog broadcasts, webcasts, and cable music services,
and technologies already exist to disaggregate these recordings
into individual songs. In light of these facts, it's clear
that the FCC should reject the RIAA's petition.
EFF's second set of reply comments to the FCC:
<http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/HDTV/EFF-BC_DAB_reply.pdf (http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/HDTV/EFF-BC_DAB_reply.pdf)>
More about the digital radio broadcast flag:
<http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/HDTV/index.php?p=digitalradioflag (http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/HDTV/index.php?p=digitalradioflag)>
On Monday, EFF filed its second set of comments urging the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) not to adopt a
"broadcast flag" for next-generation digital radio (also
known as "HD Radio"). The Recording Industry Association of
America (RIAA) has asked the FCC to adopt such a flag along
with mandatory "content protection" restrictions, for all
future digital radio receivers and recorders.
What the RIAA is seeking here is intrusive federal regulations
for a broadcast medium in its infancy, on technologies that
do not yet exist, to restrict perfectly legal activities - all
in the name of addressing an as-yet nonexistent threat. The
industry is evidently afraid that music fans will soon be able
to buy something that would function as a TiVo for radio - e.g.,
a device that would record digital radio broadcasts,
disaggregate them into individual songs, and "space shift"
the recordings to other devices.
EFF believes that a TiVo for radio is a pretty great idea - one
that innovators should be allowed to test in the marketplace
without preemptive government interference. In our comments,
we point out that it is perfectly legal to make and use these
kinds of products under existing copyright laws. We also point
out that there is nothing unique about digital radio where
recording is concerned. Music fans can already record music
from analog broadcasts, webcasts, and cable music services,
and technologies already exist to disaggregate these recordings
into individual songs. In light of these facts, it's clear
that the FCC should reject the RIAA's petition.
EFF's second set of reply comments to the FCC:
<http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/HDTV/EFF-BC_DAB_reply.pdf (http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/HDTV/EFF-BC_DAB_reply.pdf)>
More about the digital radio broadcast flag:
<http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/HDTV/index.php?p=digitalradioflag (http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/HDTV/index.php?p=digitalradioflag)>