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I watched a Senate panel debate on CSPAN2 today (that took place on Tuesday) about this bill and the broadcast flag. Senator Ted Stevens (R - Alaska), led the panel. It's quite apparent the broadcast flag is coming, not if, but when, as Senator Stevens among several other Republican members of the panel said they plan on getting the broadcast flag adopted ASAP. Of course the notorious Mitch Bainwol of the RIAA was present, and it was quite amusing to watch Senator Sununu run circles around him about the subject of royalty payments to performers and about how the flag will never get adopted on his watch without exceptions being made to exclude TiVo and other TiVo-like devices, excluding computer-based DVRs like MythTV, current model iPods, and cell phones, public domain content, news casts, political content in the form of video or audio, webcasts, podcasts, and educational use by schools and libraries from being affected by this flag. According to the Senator, "Consumers have the right to time-shift, create as many personal backups as they like, and no matter if you like it or not, they have the right to transfer the media content they paid for to whatever device they own at their own discretion, provided they do not distribute the materials to parties outside of the home." You should have seen old Mitchy-boy's face when he heard that. They said computers, cd, and dvd recorders however will fall under direct application of the broadcast flag (the aforementioned MythTV, and other computer-based recording setups are the primary target of this flag after all). What was interesting to note, is that the representative of the hardware industry basically told the panel and Mr. Bainwol that any current technological products and any coming up within the next year would NOT be taken off the market and retooled to work with this flag. They also said however, that upcoming versions of the same products released after fiscal years 2006-2007 are subject to broadcast flag requirements IF a bill implementing the flag gets passed. Basically this means that if you want to get gear that won't bow down to the flag, you better buy it now before it is too late, because in the near future, you won't be able to get it anymore. According to the equipment mentioned, here is a short list of what I heard the flag will apply to: Sound cards <-computer Video cards <-computer cd burners <-both computer and stand-alone, with stand-alone recorders ignoring the flag for designated materials, equipment must still allow backup copies of purchased discs under Fair Use dvd burners <-both computer and stand-alone, with stand-alone recorders ignoring the flag for designated materials, equipment must still allow backup copies of purchased discs under Fair Use crt monitors <-computer MP3s, MP4s, etc, etc, purchased via online services (this one was only listed as a possibility, they don't know quite how they would get it to work yet, the hardware components however, already have plenty of stuff in store) lcds <- television and computer-based models plasma screens <- television and computer-based models future models of video iPods future models of audio iPods future models of generic portable MP3 players future models of generic portable video players home versions of blu-ray and hd-dvd players, provided that there is still some mechanism available for the consumer to create perfect backups of their purchased discs under Fair Use blu-ray and hd-dvd burners for the computer hd radios <-excluding news, sports, political, educational, talk radio and public domain programming hd television sets not using lcd or plasma technology Kind of a long short list, and I am sure I forgot a few things, but basically that is the gist of it. Apparently the target of the flag is not people who use TiVo, not people who record songs off the radio, but people who record songs, shows, etc and put them up on Kazaa, Bit Torrent, etc. for distribution. This broadcast flag it seems, is directly aimed at internet "copyright infringers".

Here all lawmaker phone number who support the bill 20 congressjerks who want the Broadcast Flag -- give 'em a call and give 'em what for Twenty suicidal congresscritters are calling for the speedy adoption of a broadcast flag, trying to unmake the work that the courts did this past May when they killed the initiative. The broadcast flag says that all digital TV technology has to be approved by Hollywood's bought-and-paid-for regulators, and the rubric for it is that if we don't give Hollywood this unprecedented veto, they'll stop making stuff available for digital TV. Note that no one in Hollywood has ever promised that they will produce DTV high-def content if they get this dumb rule -- this isn't even very convincing blackmail. Is your congressjerk on the list below? Give her or him a call, and let it be known that elected lawmakers who break their constituents' televisions don't get re-elected. Find out if your rep is on the list here. John Shadegg, R-AZ, (202) 225-3361 Mary Bono, R-CA, (202) 225-5330 George Radanovich, R-CA, (202) 225-4540 John Shimkus, R-IL (202) 225-5271 Bobby Rush, D-IL, (202) 225-4372 Ed Whitfield, R-KY, (202) 225-3115 Albert Wynn, D-MD, (202) 225-8699 Charles Pickering, R-MS, (202) 225-5031 Lee Terry, R-NE, (202) 225-4155 Charles Bass, R-NH, (202) 225-5206 Mike Ferguson, R-NJ, (202) 225-5361 Frank Pallone, D-NJ, (202) 225-4671 Eliot Engel, D-NY, (202) 225-2464 Vito Fossella, R-NY, (202) 225-3371 Edolphus Towns, D-NY, (202) 225-5936 John Sullivan, R-OK, (202) 225-2211 Michael Doyle, D-PA, (202) 225-2135 Marsha Blackburn, R-TN, (202) 225-2811 Bart Gordon, D-TN, (202) 225-4231 Charles Gonzalez, D-TX, (202) 225-3236 I

A new world of anti-consumer electronics Please pay attention to this hugely important action alert from the Electonic Frontier Foundation: Hollywood Plants Its Flags in Our Homes On Tuesday, January 24, the Senate Commerce Committee will hold hearings on government regulation of digital media in the form of the broadcast flag and the audio flag. But even before the committee hears the arguments, Hollywood lobbyists have already planned the results. Drafts are being passed around Congress by Senator Gordon Smith (D-OR) of a "Digital Content Protection Act" that would make both flags laws at a stroke. If this bill were to pass, government - and the entertainment industry - would control what you could do with digital media in your home. The broadcast flag would place TV shows in a DRM ghetto, where your right to copy, back-up, sell, time-shift or convert them into formats convenient to you would be at the whim of the broadcasters. The audio flag would give the FCC matching powers over "digital audio broadcasting," including satellite radio, digital HD radio, and potentially even Internet radio. Fair use would be frozen into "customary historical use." There's no benefit here for artists or customers, and for infringing copiers, evading these copy controls will be as easy as ever. No matter how inconvenienced individual users would be, pirates would be able to bypass it. The bill would usher in a new world of anti-consumer electronics and a chance for the MPAA's and RIAA's member companies to seize even greater control over all media distribution and use. If you live in one of the states below, your senator is on the Senate Commerce Committee. Let him or her know that these flags would mark a new era of Hollywood's control of the home and of our digital networks. You have a senator on the committee if you are a resident of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New, Hampshire, New, Jersey, North, Dakota, Oregon, South, Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, or West Virginia. Write to the Committee: If you're not in one of those states, it's still important for you to write to your senator and representative to support DMCA reform and take some of the bite out of these preposterous mandates. Support DMCA reform. More information: The Draft Digital Content Protection Act: (PDF) Our Analysis of the Bill