We won the broadcast flag case, but this thing just won’t die!
You’ve heard that some in Congress want to bless the FCC and
reinstate the broadcast flag, but how could they do such a thing
without even a hearing or without us all knowing?

Public Knowledge has discovered that the
“powers-that-be” may attempt to sneak the broadcast flag
onto a spending bill. That’s right, we’ve heard word
that The Senate Committee on Appropriations (the committee that
decides how your tax dollars are spent, or appropriated) will be
considering the spending bill TOMORROW, and that
broadcast flag may be hitching a ride as an amendment. Without any
debate, the content protection scheme could be added to a bill that
was originally meant to spend money—not protect content.

We need your help right now! If you live in one of the following
states:

MS, AK, PA, NM, MO, KY, MT, AL, NH, UT, ID, TX, OH, KS, CO, WV, HI,
VT, IA, MD, NV, WI, WA, ND, CA, IL, SD, LA

one of your Senators is on the Appropriations Committee, and they
need to hear from you TODAY. Click here to find out
your Senator’s phone number here,
pick up the phone now, and ask your Senator to oppose any broadcast
flag appropriations amendments. The following talking points should
help:

• There has been No Debate in the Appropriations Committee over
  the Broadcast Flag.
• No Government Mandated DRM: Content protection is one thing, but
  government mandated content protection that puts the FCC in the role
  of gatekeeper for new technologies is wrong. There are other options
  for protecting content, and the marketplace should sort them out.
• Broadcast Flag is Not Narrow: There is no “narrow”
  way to implement the broadcast flag scheme because it necessarily
  puts the FCC in the role of gatekeeper, having to approve and
  certify every technology that might carry DTV - computers,
  cellphones, gameboys, etc. As proof of the broad scope of the flag,
  when petitioned to exempt lawful uses of digital television, the FCC
  declined saying “practical and legal difficulties of
  determining which types of broadcast content merit protection from
  indiscriminate redistribution and which do not.”
• Causes Consumer Confusion and Will Slow DTV Transition: At a
  time when Congress is concerned about making television sets
  obsolete at the end of the DTV transition, the flag would similarly
  render obsolete much consumer equipment because commonly used
  devices will not work together unless all use the same copy
  protection technology. The flag will not help the transition to DTV,
  and indeed might harm it because it makes consumers’ TVs less
  functional than before.
• Limits Fair Use: As the May 11, 2005 Congressional Research
  Service report noted, the flag will prevent important fair uses,
  like the ability of teachers to engage in distance learning and the
  ability of individuals to email fair use portions of works to
  themselves and others.
• Not about P2P: The infringement associated with Revenge of the
  Sith and other movies that have appeared online has absolutely
  nothing to do with the flag. Rather, the flag is about protecting
  supposedly “free” over the air digital television. MPAA
  provided no evidence that this content was being pirated nor would
  it be anytime in the near future.
• Content Already Shown in HD with NO PROTECTION: In contrast to
  the argument that broadcasters won’t put on “high
  value” content, we note that most prime time television is
  already broadcast in HDTV, without protection. Viacom threatened in
  2002 to withhold programming, but did not do so and is now one of
  the leading producers of HDTV.
• Court Spoke to the Merits: The D.C. Circuit’s broadcast
  flag decision was not merely “procedural.” In ruling
  that the FCC did not have the authority to impose a broadcast flag
  scheme, the Court was ruling on the scheme’s merits - namely,
  that it is so far reaching in its scope that it would permit the
  FCC, in the words of one judge at oral argument, to regulate
  “washing machines.”

Sincerely,
The Public Knowledge Team
June 20, 2005