What Is The MPAA Broadcast Flag Vote?

[BamaLefty]

I'm on an Alabama Crimson Tide sports board and there is a post telling me to call my US Senator (Richard Shelby) and tell him to vote no on this bill. I prolly won't call him either way.... but, what is this bill? :shrug:

Here is the thread:


http://www.ttforums.com/index.php/topic,14950.from1119317782/topicseen.html#msg146424

[BamaLefty]

1. Nobody Knows?

Oh well...

[Eric J in MN]

2. I think it has to do with stopping people from making copies

of tv brodacasts.

[ConfuZed]

4. What scares me is if something happens on TV that they don't want us

recording can they use this?

[BamaLefty]

6. Sub Committee Senators Voting Tommorrow

A break down of 8 Republicans and 7 Democrats.


ALABAMA Senator Richard Shelby [phone]
ALASKA Senator Ted Stevens [phone]
HAWAII Senator Daniel Inouye [phone]
IOWA Senator Tom Harkin [phone]
KANSAS Senator Sam Brownback [phone]
KENTUCKY Senator Mitch McConnell [phone]
MARYLAND Senator Barbara Mikulski [phone]
MISSOURI Senator Christopher Bond [phone]
NEW HAMPSHIRE Senator Judd Gregg [phone]
NEW MEXICO Senator Pete Domenici [phone]
NORTH DAKOTA Senator Byron Dorgan [phone]
TEXAS Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison [phone]
VERMONT Senator Patrick Leahy [phone]
WASHINGTON Senator Patty Murray [phone]
WISCONSIN Senator Herb Kohl [phone]

[ConfuZed]

3. I posted a simular thread here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3906824 I'm still in the dark but it seems like a fight worth fighting

[liveoaktx]

5. Do you want the government interfering with your right to watch

a movie, record it and then play it back on a different machine than it was recorded on? Do you want to curtail your ability to make video clips for "fair use" from things you watch on television and be unable to send them to your friends?

[liveoaktx]

7. Article: Why broadcast flag hurts librarians, computer hobbyists

http://news.com.com/2061-10796_3-5647652.html

[Todd B]

8. It's a bill favoured by the MPAA that would restrict redistribution of ...

It is a bill set up by the MPAA that would affect many newer DVR's and PC Tuner card by encoding digital bits in to each broadcast preventing unauthorized redistribution of digital content.

So far personal video recorders like Tivo will not be affected, but this obviously sets a precedence for the future for the MPAA to try and block them as well. Picture Windows Media Player DRM for your television (or video card).

http://www.mpaa.org/Press/Broadcast_Flag_QA.htm

[liveoaktx]

9. Since the ALA won the suit against the FCC, IF Congress passes it

it likely will be challenged in court.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05/07/broadcast_flag_shot_down/

[Touchdown]

10. A flag is a bitstream on a digital broadcast.

Some shows, movies of the week, Deadwood, Sopranos, 24, etc. may have these flags on them. Recording of some programs will be restricted, and some may be prohibited.

When a flag is embedded on a broadcast, recording is limited to only the device that recorded it. So, say that C-Span flagged the Conyers hearing (A public hearing, and in no way proprietary to C-Span BTW), and we couldn't distribute DVD copies of it to other who don't get cable or C-Span 2 or 3. So the only way for them to watch it is to throw a 3 hour Conyers party, which sounds fun, unless a good liberal friend has gas, and farts all night.

Say, Spiderman 2, Jaws 8, Armageddon 3, Hannibal Lecter Gets Heart Disease, Meet the Focker's Second Cousins: Twice Removed, or Harry Potter 14; Mystery of the Geriatric Wizard is showing on CBS in high def one night. They can prevent recording of it entirely. You either watch it with commercials, as your PVR (TiVO) will be disabled or buy the eventual HD-DVD for $39.99 if you want a permanent copy.

It's draconian. PVRs piss Hollywood off, because you can scan through commerical blocks in a matter of seconds, and they hate that. They also hate you recording a show they're going to offer a DVD set for $70 in six months you're not going to buy.

[Eric J in MN]

11. kick

kick

[eridani]

12. From Electronic Frontier Foundation

MPAA ATTEMPTS TO BYPASS CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE BROADCAST FLAG MAY BE SNEAKED IN THIS WEEK

Rumor has it that this Tuesday, June 21st, in a sub-committee on Commerce, Science, and Justice, a single senator will propose an amendment, hidden among many others, to re-animate the MPAA's broadcast flag and burn it into law.

On Thursday, the full Senate Appropriations Committee will vote on that amendment. If they nod it through, the Broadcast Flag will be law.

It's the lobbyist's oldest, and most desperate, trick. If you can't win in the market, snag a regulator. If you can't snag a regulator, get a law passed. And if you can't get a law, sneak an amendment into one of Congress's giant Appropriations Bills.

If you've received this mail from us, your senator is one of the few with the power to put a stop to the flag.

ACT NOW TO STOP THE FLAG

Your senator is on the relevant sub-committee or the full Senate committee. You have less than 24 hours to warn him or her of Tuesday's manoeuvre. You have only 48 hours to warn the full committee.

Letters are too slow. The press will be too slow. Only you, as a constituent of a senator on the committee, can reach them in time, by personal phone call or by fax.

IF YOU HAVE THIRTY SECONDS

Click here to use our action center: read, add your own comments, and then send a message directly to your senator via fax and email.

:http://action.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=145

IF YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES AND A PHONE

Here is the list of senator contact details. Pick the one that matches your state, and leave a personal message warning of what's planned in the Appropriations committee.

Please be cool, collected and polite. There's a sample script after the phone list.

SUB-COMMITTEE AND FULL COMMITTEE MEMBERS

ALABAMA Senator Richard Shelby [phone]
ALASKA Senator Ted Stevens [phone]
HAWAII Senator Daniel Inouye [phone]
IOWA Senator Tom Harkin [phone]
KANSAS Senator Sam Brownback [phone]
KENTUCKY Senator Mitch McConnell [phone]
MARYLAND Senator Barbara Mikulski [phone]
MISSOURI Senator Christopher Bond [phone]
NEW HAMPSHIRE Senator Judd Gregg [phone]
NEW MEXICO Senator Pete Domenici [phone]
NORTH DAKOTA Senator Byron Dorgan [phone]
TEXAS Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison [phone]
VERMONT Senator Patrick Leahy [phone]
WASHINGTON Senator Patty Murray [phone]
WISCONSIN Senator Herb Kohl [phone]

FULL COMMITTEE MEMBERS

MISSISSIPPI Thad Cochran [phone]
PENNSYLVANIA Arlen Specter [phone]
MONTANA Conrad Burns [phone]
UTAH Robert F. Bennett [phone]
IDAHO Larry Craig [phone]
OHIO Mike DeWine [phone]
COLORADO Wayne Allard [phone]
WEST VIRGINIA Robert C. Byrd [phone]
NEVADA Harry Reid [phone]
CALIFORNIA Dianne Feinstein [phone]
ILLINOIS Richard J. Durbin [phone]
SOUTH DAKOTA Tim Johnson [phone]
LOUISIANA Mary L. Landrieu [phone]

A TYPICAL CALL

"Hello, Senator _________'s office"

"Hi, I'm a constituent. I'm registering my opposition to the broadcast flag amendment being introduced in the Senate Commerce Justice and Science Appropriations subcommittee mark-up on Tuesday, and in full committee onThursday."

(*** You can give your own reasons for opposing the flag here. Here's a sample: ***)

"The Broadcast Flag cripples any device capable of receiving over-the-air digital broadcasts. It give Hollywood movie studios a permanent veto over how member of the American public use our televisions. It forces American innovators to beg the FCC for permission before adding new features to TV. "

"This is an important issue which will affect all Americans, and should not be inserted at the last moment, with almost no debate."

"Please oppose the broadcast flag amendment. My name and address are ___________________."


"Thank you for your time."
And thank you for reading this,
The activists at the EFF.