Antipiracy Article
Just trying to stay on top of any news that may apply to our situtation.
Could a decision such as this in other areas of antipiracy affect the goals within sunncomm's success?
My thought is "no" but I did want to see if it was a discussable piece of news to debate through amongst ourselves.
Appellate Court Strikes
FCC's Anti-Piracy Rules
By PEG BRICKLEY
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
A federal appellate court Friday invalidated federal regulations that require makers of TV sets to equip them with technology that prevents digital broadcast signals from being redistributed.
Ruling in a case brought by the American Library Association, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said the Federal Communications Commission had overstepped its authority in trying to regulate how consumers can use their TV sets after they receive broadcasts.
The case involves something called the "broadcast flag," a slight digital modification to a broadcast digital TV signal, one that wouldn't affect picture quality but would prevent a recording of the show from being uploaded to the Internet.
The FCC ordered it into place two years ago and said that by July 1 all video-recording equipment sold in the U.S. -- for instance DVD players and digital video recorders, including those on PCs -- must support the flag.
The American Library Association said the flag rule went beyond the FCC's power to regulate broadcasts and threatened to keep research and teaching libraries from distributing digital material in Internet classrooms.
Consumer groups had complained that the FCC requirement would drive up prices of digital television devices and prevent consumers from recording programs in ways permitted under copyright laws. Entertainment companies, however, said the technology was needed to block viewers from recording shows and films and distributing them free online.
The appeals court said no law allows the FCC to require consumers to have digital receivers that limit the use of digital broadcasts after they are received.
"The insurmountable hurdle facing the FCC in this case is that the agency's general jurisdictional grant does not encompass the regulation of consumer electronics products that can be used for receipt of wire or radio communication when those devices are not engaged in the process of radio or wire transmission," the court wrote.
Friday's ruling was no real surprise. During courtroom arguments, U.S. Circuit Judge Harry T. Edwards told the FCC it had "crossed the line'' by requiring the new anti-piracy technology for next-generation television devices and rhetorically asked the FCC whether it also intended to regulate household appliances. "You've gone too far," Judge Edwards told the FCC's lawyer. "Are washing machines next?''
--The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Write to Peg Brickley at peg.brickley@dowjones.com
