MPAA tries a sneaky approach to reenact the broadcast flag

September 29, 2005

Back in May, a federal appeals court ruled against the FCC's Bradcast Flag rules. If enforced, it would have been mandatory for digital TV equipment to recognise this and enforce any restrictions set by the rules such as to prohibit copying to even restricting the length of time shifting allowed.

Now, the MPAA is trying to force the Broadcast Flag through Congress again, but using a different technique that will improve its chances of getting enacted, which involves adding an amendment to a budget reconciliation bill. The reconciliation bill aims to cut mandatory spending by the Congress, which likely includes the revenue estimates for the sale of the analogue broadcast spectrum. As it also cannot be obstructed or delayed and cannot be changed substantially by the Budget Committee, it makes it much easier and quicker to get this amendment through.

So far, the MPAA has tried something similar back in June, however what they were trying to accomplish got leaked out, thus resulting in it failing. The RIAA has recently even tried proposing its own broadcast flag system that would be aimed at digital radio instead of digital TV, however this has been opposed by The Home Recording Rights Coalition (HRRC). The RIAA's proposal would have mandated an encryption system for digital radio as well as prevent digital radios from being allowed to work with current home entertainment equipment.

According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the MPAA is trying to ram broadcast flag legislation through Congress again, this time as an amendment to a budget reconciliation bill. Ever since the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the Federal Communications Commission overstepped its authority in mandating that all consumer electronic devices capable of receiving digital television signals incorporate support for the flag, the media industry has been working on getting Congress to enact the flag.

This latest attempt involves tacking on an amendment to a budget reconciliation bill. Reconciliation bills are an optional part of the government spending cycle, where Congress attempts to cut some mandatory spending in order to bring expenditures closer in line with the budget for the fiscal year. Since reconciliation is about cutting spending'”something that always sounds good'”such legislation cannot be substantially changed by the Budget Committee once it is presented, nor can it be filibustered.

The full article can be read here.

It looks like the MPAA will try everything it can to force the Broadcast Flag through again, including this earlier example of them of trying to introduce a Digital TV bill (which was opposed). This time they are trying to amend a useful bill to give it a greater chance of getting through. Unfortunately, even if this attempt fails, there is a good chance that the majority of home entertainment equipment will support some form of copy protection measures in the future, especially since most digital TVs already now support some form of broadcast flag system ever since the original FCC ruling before it was blocked.

Source: Ars Technica