March 02, 2004

By: Don French
Website: http://www.1st-in-flags.com

Consumer Groups Call FCC's Broadcast Flag an expensive Hollywood flop

The Federal Communications Commission's decision today to impose a "broadcast flag" scheme may throttle innovation for a wide range of industries, leaving consumers with far less flexibility and choice, said public-interest groups Public Knowledge and Consumers Union.

We commend the Commission for deviating from the movie studios' proposal, by offering more time for manufacturers to develop Flag-compliant technologies. But we are troubled that the FCC unfurled the Flag at all. Consumer advocates will need to be vigilant to ensure that Hollywood isn't able to lock in all of the anti-consumer features they tried to get in the first round. And consumers will need to be vigilant to make sure the Flag doesn't tread on their reasonable uses of content," said Gigi B. Sohn, president of Public Knowledge. A "broadcast flag" is a single bit added to the datastream of broadcast digital-television programming. By itself, the bit does not protect content. As a result, the broadcast flag scheme requires a law or regulation mandating that digital devices examine all incoming data to see if the broadcast flag is present. Having just given big media companies more control over what consumers can see on their TV sets by lifting media ownership limits, the FCC has now given these same companies more control over what users can do with that content, leaving consumers as two-time losers," said Sohn.

"There's another big problem for consumers," said Chris Murray, legislative counsel for Consumers Union. "More than 40 million DVD players in consumers' homes today will not be able to play content they record on new `flagged' devices, making them at least partially obsolete. Technology always marches on, but that's normally because new devices offer consumers better features and more flexibility to woo buyers in the marketplace, not because government fiat has rendered a particular technology obsolete. This time, the FCC's `upgrade' will be a downgrade for consumers," said Murray.

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About The Author:

Don French is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.1st-in-flags.com.  The flags of the world are symbols of recognition full of beauty and color for each country.