October 18, 2003
Burn the Broadcast Flag!
About a year and a half ago, I celebrated that the broadcast flag had no movement in Congress. One week later, they slipped it on over to the FCC. Since then, I have been optimistic that the popular opposition would be enough for the even the FCC to see that this wasn’t something worth getting involved in. Seeing Senator Brownback and others oppose this sort of copyright regulation made me hopeful that the tide is turning.
Sadly, it’s not – at least, that’s what the feeling from the FCC is. We might see a tech mandate here, crippling innovation, fair use, open source, and the future of digital television.
Please, go to the EFF Action Center and help burn the broadcast flag down to the ground.
I hope to write more about this later in the week. Many people have beat me to the punch – for more info, please see:
Donna, one and two; Frank; Ernest.
Once again, I ask: how can we avoid this in the future? How do we make Congress listen to the technologists? Why are we letting the FCC make this decision? How do we make the public interest heard in the legislative arena?
Filed by Derek Slater at 3:16 pm under 
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Money talks.