Via Atrios, Boing Boing points out that Congress is making noises about requiring the broadcast flag in digital content. The broadcast flag would prevent you from copying shows from one machine to another. You could not, for example burn a copy of a show to DVD for personal use. You could not transfer a movie from your Tivo to your laptop so that you could watch it on the train or take it with you on vacation. The broadcast flag treats you like a criminal, intent on selling bootleg copies of the latest FOX sitcom on the black market. It’s insulting, and it gives media companies something close to absolute control over how you enjoy your entertainment. And, of course, it forces you to pay extra for things that have always been free.
And, of course, since it is a terrible idea, my representative is among those leading the charge. Cory Doctorow has a list of Congress critters you can contact to express your displeasure over the matter.
leanleft
Kevin
tgirsch
Kevin T. Keith
Judd
People should be able to use other people’s intellectual property over and over again without paying for it. What are they thinking?
It reminds me of some recent initiatives by Google and Yahoo to digitize books to make them readily available for searching.
While the two issues are different, the intellectual property argument remains the same: how do you protect the author of the content while also protecting the freedom of the “buyer” to use their purchased content? There needs to be some give and take.
The television issue is a bit weird, because this was never an issue when people would tape television shows to their VHS recorder – why is anything different now?
Wacko, re: your last comment. I was thinking the same thing. What’s the difference if you use a VCR or a DVD recorder? I just don’t see how it’s violating anyone’s rights to record a show to watch later, no matter the medium, as long as you aren’t distributing that material. Intellectual property rights obviously have to be protected, but I think blocking people from making personal copies of their own to enjoy later is overkill. Basically, as long as someone isn’t making massive amounts of copies to give to friends or distribute widely, I don’t know what the problem is.
Fred-
Freedom of information means that people can share bits of what they saw on tv with visitors to their websites.
The broadcast flag would prevent that.