Text 9344, 72 rader
Skriven 2006-01-22 08:30:52 av Mike '/m' (1:379/45)
Ärende: Big Content would like to outlaw things no one has even thought of yet
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From: Mike '/m' <mike@barkto.com>


http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060121-6025.html

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The EFF's Deeplinks section has a pretty alarming post about the RIAA and
MPAA's attempts to freeze the progress of consumer electronics technology and
then start turning back the clock on all of us. Fair use, meet your successor:
"customary historic use."

The post points to broadcast flag draft legislation sponsored by Senator Gordon
Smith (R-Ore.) that contains provisions which appear to limit digital broadcast
media reception devices to "customary historic use of broadcast content by
consumers to the extent such use is consistent with applicable law and that
prevents redistribution of copyrighted content over digital networks." In other
words, if it does anything heretofore unheard of with the digital content that
it receives, then it's illegal. And if it does anything "customary" that could
also possibly lead to unauthorized redistribution, then it's also illegal. So
all the bases are covered!

Can it really be that bad? We already knew that the proposed HD radio
provisions are just awful and absurdly draconian, but can Big Content really be
trying to put a blanket freeze on innovation and outlaw any possible novel use
at all of copyrighted digital broadcast content? I downloaded the PDF and read
through it, and it does indeed look that way. There are a few relevant
sections, so let's take a look at them.

Here's the first major section in which the phrase "customary historic use" is
used:

(2) CRITERIA FOR CONTENT OF REGULATIONS ? In achieving the goal of preventing
the indiscriminate unauthorized copying and redistribution of certain digital
audio content over digital networks, any proposed regulations to govern digital
audio broadcast transmissions and digital audio receiving devices shall ?

   (a) require Commission licensees that transmit digital audio
broadcast signals or that manufacture digital audio receiving devices to
implement a Broadcast Flag technology to protect digital audio content;

   (b) permit customary historic use of broadcast content by consumers
to the extent such use is consistent with applicable law;

   (c) not interfere with the deployment and spread of digital audio
broadcasting to the maximum extent possible; and,

   (d) to the extent that such regulations cover devices, cover only
devices that are capable, without any hardware alterations or additions, of
receiving digital audio signals when such devices are sold by a manufacturer.

   (e) not interfere with the monitoring of or gaining access to musical
works contained in broadcasts by performing rights organizations for the
purpose of collecting or distributing royalties.

This sounds vaguely ominous, but not truly earth-shattering, mostly because
it's phrased positively. Unfortunately, by the time you're done with the
document you understand that it's worse than it looks at first....

===

Scary stuff. (read the whole article on the site)

The RIAA and MPAA appear to be trying to take the high-startup costs for new
media technology, and prevent that cost from being amortized over a large
enough base to make it worthwhile to develop that technology. Effectively, that
gives the RIAA and the MPAA the ability to determine what technoilogy gets
developed and when.

 /m

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