Simply Politics & News

[j.c.]

Tauzin Sets 2006 Deadline for Digital TV Signals
Thu Sep 19, 3:25 PM ET
By Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Television broadcasters would be required to switch entirely to digital, copy-protected signals by January 2006, under a proposal released on Thursday by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin.

Standard televisions and VCRs would become obsolete by that date as the new, high-definition signals could only be picked up by digital TVs and recording devices with built-in antipiracy features, according to Tauzin's draft bill.

Tauzin's proposal seeks to light a fire under broadcasters, consumer-electronics makers and media companies who have so far failed to reach agreement over how to switch from analog to digital broadcasts.

In a statement, the Louisiana Republican said the lack of progress meant that government might have to step in.

"While we prefer marketplace solutions, clearly it's time for us to provide leadership in this area," Tauzin said.

A Tauzin spokesman said he was not sure when or if the proposal would be introduced as an actual bill. The committee has scheduled a hearing on the issue for next Wednesday.

The transition to digital broadcasts, originally scheduled to be complete by 2007, has stumbled recently in the face of industry bickering.

Media companies have been reluctant to embrace digital broadcasts, fearing that hot shows like "The Sopranos ( news - Y! TV)" could become subject to Internet-based bootlegging that has plagued the music industry over the past several years.

Manufacturers of DVD players and other devices, meanwhile, worry that they would have to make machines so laden with restrictions that consumers would not buy them.

The two sides have struggled to reach agreement on a marker called a "broadcast flag," which would allow consumers to record broadcasts for personal use but prevent them from sharing shows over the Internet.

Consumer groups have joined the debate as well, worrying that the flag would place onerous limits on how they could use their recordings.

Tauzin's draft would direct the Federal Communications Commission ( news - web sites) to break the standstill by setting the technical standards and requiring all digital TVs and other devices to recognize the broadcast flag.

The draft would prevent analog VCRs from working with digital TVs made after July 2005, in an effort to prevent would-be pirates from stripping out the flag before converting it back to a digital file.

A consumer group blasted the proposal in a statement, saying it would hurt innovation and curtail the "fair use" rights of consumers to make limited copies of programming for personal use.

"This bill draft would give an unelected, unaccountable federal bureaucracy the authority to dictate the use of and regulate the devices in a consumer's family room," said Digitalconsumer.org in a statement.

A spokeswoman for the Motion Picture Association of America said she could not comment on the proposal because it has not yet been formally introduced as a bill.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=581&e=1&cid=581&u=/nm/20020919/tc_n...


what a crock... tell me, who's best interest is it?