Broadcast Flag

Any know what the broadcast flag really means ?? The articles have been a
little vague indicating perhaps that the fcc actually has not established
all of the rules for it yet. Officially though it was apparently passed
today and will go into effect the summer of 2005. Here are some issues I
see.

1. The broadcast flag would may apply to some equipment besides tv's that
the fcc has no legal authority to control. So there may be court challenges.

2. The basic idea seems to be that only authorized equipment (built after
the start date) can receive hdtv signals and record them. The authorized
equipment can only transmit copies to other authorized equipment and only in
a secure way. For instance, it would only transmit copies over a local
network to other authorized devices.

3. Encryption is not required but may be used to prevent unauthorized
access to hdtv copies.

4. There is some vague reference to dvd that says that current dvd players
will not work with dvd's made by authorized devices. Does this mean that
even if mpeg video is down sized to comply with current dvd specs that the
dvd's will not be compatible with current dvd players.

5. The broadcast flag may limit copies or prevent any copying


Any body have any real information on this ??


Richard R.

FYI, some info on fcc site:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_publi...C-240759A1.pdf
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_publi...C-03-273A1.pdf

"Richard R" wrote in message
...
Any know what the broadcast flag really means ?? The articles have been a
little vague indicating perhaps that the fcc actually has not established
all of the rules for it yet. Officially though it was apparently passed
today and will go into effect the summer of 2005. Here are some issues I
see.

1. The broadcast flag would may apply to some equipment besides tv's that
the fcc has no legal authority to control. So there may be court
challenges.

2. The basic idea seems to be that only authorized equipment (built after
the start date) can receive hdtv signals and record them. The authorized
equipment can only transmit copies to other authorized equipment and only
in
a secure way. For instance, it would only transmit copies over a local
network to other authorized devices.

3. Encryption is not required but may be used to prevent unauthorized
access to hdtv copies.

4. There is some vague reference to dvd that says that current dvd players
will not work with dvd's made by authorized devices. Does this mean that
even if mpeg video is down sized to comply with current dvd specs that the
dvd's will not be compatible with current dvd players.

5. The broadcast flag may limit copies or prevent any copying


Any body have any real information on this ??


Richard R.

I am also unclear on what effect if any this broadcast flag will have on
today's
HD (OTA) recording hardware and software. For instance, will the MDP-120 and
MyHD
sw currently working on my HTPC stop working with this flag? Or will they
bypass the flag? Anyone know?

--
eNo
"Why am I here?"

It appears that legacy equipment is okay. This does create one odd
situation. Fusion HDTV is mostly software. Does this mean software support
of the legacy system is okay after mid 2005??

Richard R.

"eNo" wrote in message
...
I am also unclear on what effect if any this broadcast flag will have on
today's
HD (OTA) recording hardware and software. For instance, will the MDP-120
and
MyHD
sw currently working on my HTPC stop working with this flag? Or will they
bypass the flag? Anyone know?

--
eNo
"Why am I here?"