Broadcast Flag Archive

Challenging the Broadcast Flag in Court

The TiVo Flap: As part of its consideration of which DRM technologies will be "approved" for use under the broadcast flag regime, the FCC has been asked by the MPAA to refuse to allow TiVo to make HDTV programs recorded off-the-air available for remote viewing. Even if TiVo encrypts it all! The Washington Post's Rob Pegoraro does the best job explaining exactly why this is a terrible precedent for HDTV consumers.

ALA v. FCC: A lawsuit challenging the FCC's Broadcast Flag mandate.

Digital radio flag: The RIAA, inspired by the Broadcast Flag, is asking for a similar FCC mandate for digital radios!

Broadcast Flag FNPRM: The FCC’s November 2003 Broadcast Flag ruling left several issues open and solicited additional comments. EFF in response urged the FCC to (1) exclude software-defined tuners (like GNU Radio) from the broadcast flag mandate, (2) keep broadcast television unscrambled when retransmitted on cable basic tier, and (3) avoid unifying the procedures for approving broadcast flag and plug and play content protection technologies.

The Main Event: FCC Adopts the Broadcast Flag

The FCC’s ruling adopting the Broadcast Flag mandate. Nov. 4, 2003

"The Broadcast Flag and Why You Should Care": A good 13-page summary of the Broadcast Flag fight, courtesy of Cites & Insights: Crawford at Large.

Initial Comments to the FCC:

Reply Comments to the FCC:

BPDG: Genesis of the Broadcast Flag

EFF Overview of the Broadcast Protection Discussion Group (BPDG)

Consensus at Lawyerpoint: EFF’s blog covering the inter-industry BPDG meetings that drafted the Broadcast Flag scheme, as well as related developments. While BPDG was meeting, the EFF blog was the leading source of public information about its deliberations.

"The Final Report of BPDG: That Which We Call the CBDTPA, By Any Other Name Would Smell as Foul...": Summary of EFF’s objections to the BPDG Report (June 4, 2002)

The Final Report of the BPDG: This report became the starting point for what ultimately became the FCC’s Broadcast Flag mandate (June 3, 2002)

EFF's Dissenting Report Accompanying the BPDG Final Report (June 3, 2002)

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