flynn23 wrote:
] ] FCC Chairman Michael Powell said his
] ] agency was taking "an important step toward preserving
] ] the viability of free over-the-air television."
]
] Dude, you SOOOOO blew it...

Oh, its ok, the BBC will put all their television online, and everyone will watch it instead. :)

Decius wrote:
] Oh, its ok, the BBC will put all their television online, and
] everyone will watch it instead. :)

Exactly. On several fronts we are going to be seeing a shootout between these very rigid IP rules for distribution of content vs. very liberal rules.. I think the liberal approach will win in the long run, but we are going to be dealing with the rigid approach for the foreseeable future.

Rant.

There are a number of TV shows that I would _never_ watch if I did not have the ability to record/time-shift them.. This crap is going to cause problems with that technology by virtue of the fact that the same technology can also enable copying with very little modification. Its pretty much proven that you can't keep people from tinkering with consumer hardware to make it do what they want.. Tivo, XBox, etc.. There will be more examples. There will be "Hack your TV" t-shirts..

We already know people who are hacking together software HDTV decoders.. Who is this rule going to stop? Not people with skills.. Not people who want to "steal" the data. Its going to stop end consumers from getting products that do what they want, and thats all. Its going to oppress my Mom, and piss me off. Thats it.

I think the term "digital divide" is going to be re-defined if all these communication technologies keep turning restrictive one after another. Its not going to have anything to do with wealth, its going to be about the technical skills that determines who is a have and a have-not. Its about punk rock ethics coming of age because of the PC and the Internet. Viva the self-taught engineer who hates the man and cherishes freedom.

Rattle wrote:
] Decius wrote:
] ] Oh, its ok, the BBC will put all their television online,
] and
] ] everyone will watch it instead. :)
]
] Exactly. On several fronts we are going to be seeing a
] shootout between these very rigid IP rules for distribution of
] content vs. very liberal rules.. I think the liberal approach
] will win in the long run, but we are going to be dealing with
] the rigid approach for the foreseeable future.
]
] Rant.
]
] There are a number of TV shows that I would _never_ watch if I
] did not have the ability to record/time-shift them.. This
] crap is going to cause problems with that technology by virtue
] of the fact that the same technology can also enable copying
] with very little modification. Its pretty much proven that
] you can't keep people from tinkering with consumer hardware to
] make it do what they want.. Tivo, XBox, etc.. There will be
] more examples. There will be "Hack your TV" t-shirts..
]
] We already know people who are hacking together software HDTV
] decoders.. Who is this rule going to stop? Not people with
] skills.. Not people who want to "steal" the data. Its going
] to stop end consumers from getting products that do what they
] want, and thats all. Its going to oppress my Mom, and piss me
] off. Thats it.
]
] I think the term "digital divide" is going to be re-defined if
] all these communication technologies keep turning restrictive
] one after another. Its not going to have anything to do with
] wealth, its going to be about the technical skills that
] determines who is a have and a have-not. Its about punk rock
] ethics coming of age because of the PC and the Internet. Viva
] the self-taught engineer who hates the man and cherishes
] freedom.

This is an interesting take. For one, I think you're forgetting that by the FCC adopting this rule, it means that devices that do not adhere to it are ILLEGAL! While I'm sure there will be some soft back peddling to grandfather things and to make it adaptable by consumer electronics folks, the point of this is that it criminalizes deviation from the rule. The FCC would view it like you're operating a pirate radio station. It doesn't matter whether you can hack HDTV in software. Not implementing the flag makes you a criminal.

Will this rule stand? I doubt it. The consumer electronics folks are not going to implement this without one helluva fight. The biggest reason is that the technology necessary to detect and decode the broadcast flag is (you guessed it) proprietary, and one company stands to benefit from its forced inclusion in all media devices. I'm sure you can also guess that several people in DC own shares in this company.

But let's just suppose it does stand, at least temporarily. After all, who would've thought some of the crap that's happened over the last few years would've happened, right? Combine this with all the crap in privacy and data mining. This might sound cheeky, but I can totally see a percentage of the population that prefers to be Max Headroom-ish Blanks. People with no record anywhere. This would be very punk rock indeed, since they'd be required to have the DIY ethic in order to survive (unless they all lived in Montana or something). It could definitely impact a lot of areas of life, as I imagine this would be a sizeable demographic.

flynn23 wrote:
] This is an interesting take. For one, I think you're
] forgetting that by the FCC adopting this rule, it means that
] devices that do not adhere to it are ILLEGAL! While I'm sure
] there will be some soft back peddling to grandfather things
] and to make it adaptable by consumer electronics folks, the
] point of this is that it criminalizes deviation from the rule.
] The FCC would view it like you're operating a pirate radio
] station. It doesn't matter whether you can hack HDTV in
] software. Not implementing the flag makes you a criminal.

Ok, so maybe my statements are a tad bit over the top in some respects.. However, my point was that no one who this aims to stop is going to care in the slightest that modifying their TV makes it illegal. It actually increases the value of the device. They didn't care about the illegal cable boxes, still don't.. I can still get any analogue descrambler I want, and thats illegal. I was told yesterday there is somewhere in town I can buy a hacked up digital cable box. I can download warez. I can trade music files.. I can possess an assault weapon. All these things are illegal, but no one who the laws aim to stop care enough to have it even be a speed bump in their moral highway..

Now, I know that my argument is lame if you are looking at it purely from a ethics perspective. But I also see these things are subtle attacks on democracy. So I'll happily be an extremist in this situation..

I just see this broadcast flag situation as doing nothing other then manufacturing criminal people and hardware. Its not going to stop piracy of broadcast shows..

Hrm.. "Piracy of broadcast" is an interesting doublespeak..

] Will this rule stand? I doubt it. The consumer electronics
] folks are not going to implement this without one helluva
] fight. The biggest reason is that the technology necessary to
] detect and decode the broadcast flag is (you guessed it)
] proprietary, and one company stands to benefit from its forced
] inclusion in all media devices. I'm sure you can also guess
] that several people in DC own shares in this company.

I think this is probably going to stand.. Companies like Tivo are going to find some way around this, or rather a way around this will be made for them.. I have not read the fine print, but the FCC ruling says that the hardware must support the broadcast flag. No problem. Companies will be able to make some deal that will allow them to "support" the flag, and under certain circumstances bypass it. Time shifting will be allowed, but the device will limit burning off of non-flagged shows. It will have to do with licensing the technology, not the FCC's rules. The FCC just mandates the technology is used in the hardware. As long as this doesn't break people's Tivos, it's going to make this issue "just not big enough" to really have the average consu... [ Read More (0.2k in body) ]

Decius wrote:
] flynn23 wrote:
] ] ] FCC Chairman Michael Powell said his
] ] ] agency was taking "an important step toward preserving
] ] ] the viability of free over-the-air television."
] ]
] ] Dude, you SOOOOO blew it...
]
] Oh, its ok, the BBC will put all their television online, and
] everyone will watch it instead. :)

Everyone? I'm not sure if you're overestimating the population of people with skills to stream video, or the quality of BBC television...