IP: EFF: FCC to Announce Hollywood's Controversial "Broadcast Flag"

[Dave Farber <dave@farber.net>]

[ It is important to note that this is a NPRM not a rule. Dave]

Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Advisory

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, August 7, 2002


Contact:

Cory Doctorow
   Outreach Coordinator
   Electronic Frontier Foundation
   cory@eff.org
   +1 415 436-9333 x106 (office), +1 415 726-5209 (cell)

Seth Schoen
   Staff Technologist
   Electronic Frontier Foundation
   seth@eff.org
   +1 415 436-9333 x107


FCC to Announce Hollywood's Controversial "Broadcast Flag"

Anti-Competitive Proposal Undermines Adoption of Digital TV

Washington, D.C. - The Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) will introduce a proposal to implement a "Broadcast
Flag" mandate for digital television at an open webcast
meeting 9:30 a.m. EDT (6:30 a.m. PDT) on Thursday,
August 8, in Washington, D.C.

The controversial Broadcast Flag proposal has been the focus
of intense scrutiny from the Electronic Frontier Foundation
(EFF) and other civil liberties and consumer interest
groups.

The Broadcast Flag is the first test case for the approach
envisioned in Senator Fritz Hollings' Consumer Broadband and
Digital Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA) -- namely,
"inter-industry" negotiations leading to federally mandated
copy-prevention standards in new digital devices.

These negotiations took the form of the Broadcast Protection
Discussion Group (BPDG), which met from December 2001 until
June 2002 to draft a standard for implementing the Broadcast
Flag. The BPDG ultimately issued a proposed "standard" that
would require all digital TV devices to include only those
output and recording methods approved by Hollywood studios.

Consumer electronics companies, software interests, and
nonprofits submitted hundreds of pages of objections along
with the BPDG final report. The critics contend that the
flawed BPDG process resulted in anti-competitive
recommendations that will undermine innovation and digital
television adoption and are contrary to the First Amendment.

EFF also sent a letter to FCC Chairman Michael Powell,
detailing how the BPDG Broadcast Flag proposal would likely
undermine civil liberties interests, and enumerating the
many commercial and nonprofit organizations that opposed
the BPDG final report. EFF urged Chairman Powell to set
aside the BPDG recommendations in their entirety and begin
his investigation into the Broadcast Flag with a clean
slate, with an open process that accommodates the public
interest.

EFF staff listed as contacts on this advisory will be
available for comment following the open Commission meeting
beginning at 12:00 p.m. EDT (9:00 a.m. PDT) Thursday.

For this advisory:
http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/HDTV/20020807_eff_bpdg_pr.html

EFF letter to FCC Chairman Michael Powell on BPDG:
http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/HDTV/20020807_eff_bpdg_fcclet.html

FCC webcast (RealMedia) of Open Commission Meeting:
http://www.fcc.gov/realaudio/

FCC announcement of Open Commission Meeting:
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Miscellaneous/Public_Notices/Agenda/2002/ag020808
.html 


EFF "Consensus at Lawyerpoint" weblog on BPDG proceedings:
http://bpdg.blogs.eff.org

Executive summary of EFF objections to BPDG final report:
http://bpdg.blogs.eff.org/archives/000121.html

EFF objections to BPDG final report:
http://bpdg.blogs.eff.org/archives/000116.html

BPDG final report:
http://bpdg.blogs.eff.org/archives/000128.html#000128


About EFF:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil
liberties organization working to protect rights in the
digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and
challenges industry and government to support free
expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported
organization and maintains one of the most-linked-to
websites in the world at
http://www.eff.org/

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