Post by Shadow on Dec 22, 2005 23:16:17 GMT -5
New Scientist
# 17:23 20 December 2005
# NewScientist.com news service
# Kurt Kleiner
Manufacturers of video equipment will need to make their devices obey copy controls built into analogue movies and TV shows under a proposed US law.
Proponents say the law is needed to plug the "analogue hole" in a digital rights management scheme designed for digital TV. But opponents say it is another rights grab by the movie industry.
Congressman James Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican, introduced a bill called the "Digital Transition Content Security Act of 2005". Unusually, it is meant to plug a hole in legislation which itself has not been passed yet, but which will probably be considered by Congress early in the new year.
At issue is a content protection scheme for digital television. The Motion Picture Association of America and others are pushing for a law that requires video equipment to obey "broadcast flags".
These digital signals would control whether a broadcast can be recorded at all, and if so, how many times it can be replayed and whether it can be recopied. The Federal Communications Commission issued broadcast flag regulations in 2003, but a court ruled in May 2005 that the agency did not have legal authority to do so. Congress is expected to consider giving the FCC that authority early in 2006.
# 17:23 20 December 2005
# NewScientist.com news service
# Kurt Kleiner
Manufacturers of video equipment will need to make their devices obey copy controls built into analogue movies and TV shows under a proposed US law.
Proponents say the law is needed to plug the "analogue hole" in a digital rights management scheme designed for digital TV. But opponents say it is another rights grab by the movie industry.
Congressman James Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican, introduced a bill called the "Digital Transition Content Security Act of 2005". Unusually, it is meant to plug a hole in legislation which itself has not been passed yet, but which will probably be considered by Congress early in the new year.
At issue is a content protection scheme for digital television. The Motion Picture Association of America and others are pushing for a law that requires video equipment to obey "broadcast flags".
These digital signals would control whether a broadcast can be recorded at all, and if so, how many times it can be replayed and whether it can be recopied. The Federal Communications Commission issued broadcast flag regulations in 2003, but a court ruled in May 2005 that the agency did not have legal authority to do so. Congress is expected to consider giving the FCC that authority early in 2006.