Judges Scold FCC Over Broadcast Flag

By Ed Oswald and Nate Mook | Published February 22, 2005, 1:01 PM

Two of the three federal appeals court judges from the District of Columbia scolded the Federal Communications Commission Tuesday over what they saw as an overstep of the agency's authority given by Congress. The reprimand came in response to the FCC's ruling on the "broadcast flag."

The broadcast flag came about in November 2003 at the request of the entertainment industry to block copying. The ruling required that any device sold in the US that could receive digital television after July 2005 must be able to detect the flag.

The feature was intended to curb the illegal distribution of programming over the Internet, but Congress did not specifically grant the FCC power to implement it.

"Ancillary does not mean you get to rule the world," said Judge Harry Edwards. "You've gone too far."

Several groups came forward to challenge the ruling; however, most of were involved with libraries. They claimed that the new law would affect their ability to use digital programming under "fair use" laws. Critics also argued that the FCC had no authority to make the ruling without Congress' approval.

The three-judge panel seemed to agree with that assertion. "You're out there in the whole world, regulating. Are washing machines next?" asked Edwards. But Judge David B. Sentelle questioned whether library groups could legally challenge the FCC order, as they are not representative of television viewers as a whole.

The Motion Picture Association of America argues that the law is necessary, and without it, the future of digital TV as a whole may be in jeopardy.

Comments

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So does this mean that I won't be able to record my favorite tv shows? And here I thought recording my favorite shows in digital format and take them on my laptop to watch later would be awesome...

If that's the case, I can't say I like the FCC...

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Everyone knows that the CC in FCC stands for Clear Channel now anyhow, so I wasn't suprised at all when I heard they pulled that. Someone needs to start putting them in their place. They need to start to realize that they're here to serve the people and not just the four letter acronyms that I use certain choice four letter words to describe.

The FCC also needs to be a board of elected officials IMO, not appointed ones.

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Oh what a laugh since they are forcing DTV on us by 2007 thats total hogwash.

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way to go guys - "two wrongs don't make a right"

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"way to go guys - "two wrongs don't make a right""

spiffyjeff, you have used copyright material without permission. I have reported this violation to the FCC.

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Actually, that was patented :)

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Copyright? Patent? Trademark? In China they say "What's that?" Actually, the FCC should be renamed to FLoCC or Federal Lack of Communications Clusterf**k

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Just like VHS did!

You hear that sound? It's the MPAA and the RIAA laughing all the way to the bank with your hard-earned dollar in their pocket!

Bunch of money grubbing, whiney, A$$40L3$ crying over spilt-milk.

Just Say NO to the MPAA, RIAA and Clear Channel!

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