Beat Broadcast Flag
p2pnet.net News Feature:- Your new high-end digital TV cost a packet, but that’s OK. Your kids are laughing their heads off watching Mickey, Pluto and the gang. Then suddenly, you’re watching static! Because although your new system has state-of-the-art remote control, you’re not the one using it.
The Mickey movie wasn’t Hollywood approved so an application embedded in the system you paid all those dollars for shut you down.
Ridiculous? Couldn’t happen? It could. Youe new system came with what’s in effect remote control. But you won’t be the one using it.
According to new Federal Communications Commission regulations, as of next year digital TV sets must be able to receive and recognize a Broadcast Flag to “foster the transition to digital TV and forestall potential harm to the viability of free, over-the-air broadcasting in the digital age,” as the FCC puts it.
Another way of putting it is: the system was fostered by the entertainment industry so it can ‘decide’ what you see and hear in your own home. And if the entertainment industry can make it happen offline, you can bet it’ll also want to do the same online.
Or you could make a home-brew NBF DTV (Non-Broadcast Flag Digital TV) such as the one EFF lawyer Wendy Seltzer made.
“When it comes to digital recording, it’ll be Hollywood’s DRM way or the highway,” says the EFF (Electronic Fronetier Foundation) here. “Want to burn that recording digitally to a DVD to save hard drive space? Sorry, the DRM lock-box won’t allow it. How about sending it over your home network to another TV? Not unless you rip out your existing network and replace it with DRMd routers. Kind of defeats the purpose of getting a high definition digital signal, doesn’t it?”
“We have until July 1, 2005, to buy, build, and sell fully-capable, non-flag-compliant HDTV receivers,” the EFF says.
“Any receivers built now will remain functional under a flag regime, allowing consumers to continue their use without the need for new or additional equipment.’ [PDF] Any devices made this year can be re-sold in the future.”
With that in mind, the EFF has launched the Digital Television Liberation Project aimed at showing the technically-minded (and not-so-technically-minded) how to build fully-capable DTV devices.
Seltzer made one and will be demonstrating it at DefCon later this month.
“It took a few late nights to put together the first model, but with a streamlined process and more tips on what hardware and settings to use, we think the process could go much faster,” she told p2pnet.
“We’re working hard to get the word out so people can buy the cards while they’re still being manufactured. Along with the cookbook, we’ll also be benchmarking the systems we build against broadcast-flag-limited consumer electronics devices.”
How much technical expertise would you need? Seltzer told us she’s a lawyer who can compile a Linux kernel: “It’ll still require putting a new PCI card into the computer, so the minimum level of technical skill is somewhere above that point,” she says
The DTV Liberation Project will use PC-based PVRs as benchmarks, comparing the capabilities of the general-purpose computer to the limited subset of viewing options Broadcast Flag-compliant devices can offer.
“The folks at www.pcHDTV.com make an HD-capable (ATSC) tuner card with Linux drivers,” says the EFF. “The MythTV project has built a terrific personal video recorder (PVR) platform that gives a GNU/Linux PC features like TiVo’s pause live TV and ’season pass’ recording. These are great for geeks, and we’re looking for volunteers to help make the combination more accessible to the general public.”
EFF Project:
“Since machines you’ve already built will still work in high-def next year, we’d like to make HDTV tuner cards easy to use now, while they can still be manufactured.
The EFF says it wants to help the MythTV project work seamlessly with the pcHDTV card so less technical users can beat Broadcast Flag. It also wants to hear about Windows and Macintosh HDTV tuner cards, with an eye toward helping people make the most of existing pre-flag products.
“In addition, if you’ve already seen devices limited by premature broadcast flag compliance, we’d like to hear about them – to warn others away and to track the limitations the flag rules impose.”
EFF’s Annotations to the MPAA Broadcast Flag FAQ
The Project needs hardware, money, and volunteers to help develop the cookbook.
July 6th, 2004 at 12:18 am
Didn’t that goe out with wired telephones in the 20th century? I think my grandmother has one in her basement.
June 10th, 2005 at 11:59 pm
What are some of the equipments that are non compliance to broadcast flag and where can one get them?
June 11th, 2005 at 12:42 am
What are some of the equipments that are non compliance to broadcast flag and where can one get them?