The broadcast flag—the darling of the US corporate entertainment cartel—has reared its ugly head yet again. This time in draft legislation from Senator Gordon Smith (R-Oregon). The proposed legislation limits digital media devices to “customary historic use of broadcast content by consumers to the extent such use is consistent with applicable law and that prevents redistribution of copyrighted content over digital networks.”
If this legislation passes, say goodbye to fair use exceptions to US copyright law. And say goodbye, too, to any new technology developments that aren’t approved by the corporate content cartel. This legislation makes it illegal to do anything new—anything not customary—with digital content.
As Fred von Lohmann of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) points out:
“Had that been the law in 1970, there would never have been a VCR. Had it been the law in 1990, no TiVo. In 2000, no iPod.”
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