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October 27, 2003
FCC to Regulate Routers - Critics of Broadcast Flag Get Mainstream Press
Posted by Ernest Miller
After a week in which it seemed that only the proponents of the Broadcast Flag were getting their voice heard, two articles in the mainstream press provide more of the critics' perspective. WIRED extensively quotes Broadcast Flag foe Fred von Lohmann of EFF (A Case of Piracy Overkill?). Nevertheless, it seems that the FCC is determined to make the terrible mistake of implementing a Broadcast Flag. The mistake might be worse than previously thought, according to the New York Times (reg. req.) article (Critics Press Case on TV Privacy Rules):
An F.C.C. official said, for instance, that the broadcast flag could contain software code that was recognized by computer routers in a way that the program would self-destruct after passing through three routers while being e-mailed by a user.
That's right. The FCC is thinking about regulating email routers so that they scan and filter emails for the Broadcast Flag. That is such a stupid idea I don't know what to say.
And what does "three" routers have to do with it? Is it okay to send email with television shows if it only goes through one router? These officials are unbelievably clueless. Really.
UPDATE 0805 PT
Salon has an excellent article on this as well (Hollywood to the computer industry: We don't need no stinking Napsters!).
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Ernest Miller pursues research and writing on cyberlaw, intellectual property, and First Amendment issues. Mr. Miller attended the U.S. Naval Academy before attending Yale Law School, where he was president and co-founder of the Law and Technology Society, and founded the technology law and policy news site LawMeme. He is a fellow of the Information Society Project at Yale Law School.
Ernest Miller's blog postings can also be found @
