--- From: "Clark, Drew" <dclark@private> To: "Declan McCullagh (E-mail)" <declan@private>, Subject: For [Politech] Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 18:11:35 -0500 Just posted on Technology Daily: Technology Daily Breaking News FCC: Digital TV Makers Must Include Anti-Piracy Technology The FCC announced late Tuesday that it will require <http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-240759A1.pdf> digital television manufacturers to include "broadcast flag" technology in their sets by July 2005 in an attempt to stop individuals in the future from pirating digital television programs. FCC Chairman Michael Powell said in a statement <http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-240759A2.pdf> that the commission's decision "strikes a careful balance between content protection and technology innovation in order to promote consumer interests." In an accompanying press release <http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-240759A1.pdf>, the agency said it had established a series of "objective criteria" and that it had made other modifications to the flag. The FCC also declined to bar broadcasters from marking news and public affairs programming with the flag. All five commissioners supported elements of the decision, but Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein dissented on parts of it. In his statement, Powell said the public would benefit from the decision because of the availability of high-definition digital programming through over-the-air broadcasting. He also said the commission had modified the proposal originally urged by the Motion Picture Association of America <http://www.mpaa.org/> (MPAA). "As recommended by many in the information technology community, we have identified objective criteria to guide our decisions on new content technologies. These criteria lay out a roadmap for companies seeking to bring new technologies to market." The flag technology has been a flashpoint in the battle between Hollywood and Silicon Valley over technology mandates. As originally designed by News Corp. and subsequently ratified by all MPAA companies, the flag would have required all manufacturers to use encryption technology patented by only six electronics companies, including Intel and IBM. Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy supported <http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-240759A3.pdf> the decision "because of the changes we have made to the way transmission and recording technologies are approved." She added, "While we are asking for further comment on this issue, we set up on an interim basis a transparent, open and objective approval process that will promote the development of competition in the marketplace and foster innovation." The FCC is establishing an interim process to consider content-protection technologies on an expedited basis. The agency hopes to finalize the list of approved technologies by early 2004. In addition, the agency is seeking more input on determining the criteria it should use for approving content-protection technologies. But Copps and Adelstein were not fully satisfied with the decision. "I dissent in part, first, because the commission does not preclude the use of the flag for news or for content that is already in the public domain," Copps said in a statement <http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-240759A4.pdf>. He also said he dissented from elements of the order because it did "not expressly consider the impact of a technology on personal privacy." Adelstein said <http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-240759A5.pdf>, "I dissent in part, as I do not believe we have fully achieved our goal of creating an effective and appropriately tailored pro-consumer digital broadcast television protection regime." In the accompanying press release, the FCC said, "digital videocassette records, digital videodisc players and personal computers that are not built with digital tuners installed are not required to comply with the new rule." by Drew Clark <mailto:dclark@private>, National Journal's Technology Daily © National Journal Group Drew Clark Senior Writer, National Journal's Technology Daily National Journal's Technology Daily home: http://nationaljournal.com/pubs/techdaily Information about National Journal's Technology Daily: http://www.technologydaily.com tel 202-261-0357 fax 202-261-0361 cell 202-329-9517 e-mail dclark@private or drew@private 1501 M Street NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20005 _______________________________________________ Politech mailing list Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/)
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