Comments on: Senate may hoist broadcast flag again

The antipiracy measure for digital TV receives a boost in the Senate. A version intended for digital radio does not.

[rebeccal]

It's like we learned nothing from the VCR

The Supreme Court decided that as long as a technology has
legitimate use, it cannot be considered illegal. Why is it, then, that
every government leader has decided that the POTENTIAL rampant
piracy is worth overthrowing our rights as consumers? Any
recorder that does not have support for this broadcast flag has
legitimate, legal uses, yet they want to make such devices illegal.

Further, wasn't the VCR the best thing that happened to the
business in the long run?

[skeptik]

Oh they learned!

Actually they learned plenty. They learned that consumers would pay money to view something that they did not own and could view for a limited time. They learned that the concept of pay-per-use could be highly profitable, and are working steadily to make reach a model were EVERY playback of a recording is purchased EVERY time. They will happily make all TV shows available for on-demand replay as long as we pay for the viewing. They've extended their thinking to music now as well.
Allowing consumers to record something and view/listen to it later for free is just plain bad for business because it represents lost sales. Consumers desire a product and are getting it for free in their eyes.

[yrrahxob]

New Industry

All this will do is create a new industry that manufactures a small, cheap device that will suppress the braodcast flag so the broadcast can be recorded with no restrictions. I will be one of the first to buy one of these devices as soon as they hit the market and I really don't care if they are legal or not.

[artbrodsky]

Strong statement against the flags

My group, Public Knowledge, wasn't asked to testify, but did submit a very strong statement in opposition. You can read it here: http://www.publicknowledge.org/news/letters/gbsohn-statement-20060124

We were the lead group that brought the case that got the flag rules thrown out.

[chhooks]

Here we go again...

Did I get it right...
<<<A receiver that could easily record songs and shuffle the play order like Apple Computer's iPod, he warned, would mean the record labels would not get paid for the download.>>>

So, in other words, if we don't like the particular songs that a label chose to put on a CD we do not have the right to change that? We do not have the right to assemble a library of music that suits our listening style?

Get real... we (the consumer) pay the salary of: The performer, The recording studio, the marketing company and the fulfillment company.

If we, the consumers, would get together for once (i'd die of shock if we did) and refuse to play their game we could win! REFUSE to purchase hardware that places limits on our freedom. Refuse to purchase broadcast (or CD's / DVD's) with DRM.
Activly email our representatives our feelings and then VOTE for those who stand on a freedom platform. When we cut the profits of the media moguls they will beg people to buy their goods.

Remember, Boycott Sony!

[skeptik]

alarmist nonsense

It's "not casual recording by listeners," Bainwol said. "It is not taping off the radio like we used to do.

Like, how is it different other than being digital? I can see an argument against songs being recorded and the placed on P2P, but that's an issue with P2P which is slowly being legislated out of existence. A home user recording any broadcast and using it in any personal way is not piracy and has been upheld as fair-use by the courts.
So the industry expects every law-abiding consumer to give up fair-use in order to prevent a problem that has not even been proven to have a large financial impact to the record companies. (No, they have not published definitive statistics showing large losses due to P2P. They've used coincidental statistics to suggest losses due to P2P.)
The industry is proposing that every song recorded off the radio is a lost sale... something that has never been true in either the analog or digital broadcast days.

[Earl]

Blown out of preposition

this whole thing is out of whake with the American why of life,(freedom).
Riaa should be sueing everyone, becase I don't know of anyone that has not made recoredings.
Use to when you bought a record you got a full recored of music you liked, now you may be lucky enought to get maybe 2 songs you like & the rest garbage. They should be paying us for advertiment.

[Earl]

Blown out of preposition

this whole thing is out of whake with the American why of life,(freedom).
Riaa should be sueing everyone, becase I don't know of anyone that has not made recoredings.
Use to when you bought a record you got a full record of music you liked, now you may be lucky enought to get maybe 2 songs you like & the rest garbage. They should be paying us for advertiment.