Digital Home Thoughts: Federal Appeals Court Scraps FCC's Broadcast Flag Mandate

"In a landmark case, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit today struck down the "Broadcast Flag," an FCC rule that would have crippled digital television receivers beginning on July 1st. The Broadcast Flag rule would have required all digital TV receivers, including televisions, VCRs, and personal video recorders like TiVo, to be built to read signals embedded in over-the-air broadcast television shows that would place certain limitations on how those shows could be played, recorded, and saved. The sale of any hardware that was not able to "recognize and give effect to" the Broadcast Flag, including currently existing digital and high-definition television (HDTV) equipment and open source/free software tools, would have become illegal."



I'm not sure how to take this ruling. I'm happy that those "activist judges" are on the side of fair use, but close look at the ruling only shows that the FCC "overstepped its authority". I'm thinking we haven't seen the end of "the flag", as Congress can easily give them the right to do so.

The next step for everyone is to email your Senator and Congressperson, and let them know how you feel (pro or con).