Back in November 2003, the Federal Communications Commission approved a new mandate for high-definition digital TV. This mandate - a 'broadcast flag,' would require HDTV receivers to check for the presence of the flag, and if it's set, encrypt the signal for sending to "compliant devices." There is no word yet on what constitutes an authorized device, but presumably any Digital Video Receiver would have to be cleared by the TV stations.
What drives TV stations? Money. Where does this money come from? Commercials. One of the major reasons people buy personal video recorders like TiVo is because it allows them to skip commercials. If a TV station sends an HD signal, and they choose to set the broadcast flag, they can control which devices can record it. If they have the power to decide which devices can record the signal, why wouldn't they only allow devices that don't allow users to skip commercials? Stations can charge more for ad time when they can guarantee that viewers won't skip the ads.
That doesn't even take in to account the fact that stations would have unprecedented control over the content they air. Presently, anyone with an antenna, cable, or satellite receiver and a VCR can make a copy of any show, and then they can watch it again any time they want. With a receiver that recognizes the broadcast flag, though, stations could flag any or all of their programs/events, and then only authorize receivers that only allow a single playback, or a playback only at certain times, or impose any number of other restrictions. They may have made it harder for people to rip the recorded shows from the DVR and put them on the Internet, but people who want to get around the flag will. The people that really get hurt in this issue are people who just want to timeshift a show (record it when it airs and watch it at a more convenient time).
The restrictions are scheduled to take effect beginning July 1, 2005, but there are a number of groups opposed to the flag. The American Library Association launched a lawsuit against the FCC to prevent the mandate from taking effect. The ALA has been joined in the suit by a number of groups, including Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Public Knowledge.
The lawsuit alleges that the FCC overstepped their authority in implementing such a rule and that there is no need for such a rule to have even been considered. Timeshifting was one of the issues the Supreme Court ruled was fair use in the "Betamax" case back in the eighties. Let us not let the FCC give TV stations the power to take away our fair use rights.
