Digital TV Ruling a Victory for Consumers and Innovation, Halts Expanded Regulation CCIA Says

File Under: 2005, Copyright

Jun 27, 2005

Background: Today the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit struck down a Federal Communications Commission attempt to expand its regulatory reach through a regulation that would have seriously disrupted consumers’ ability to make and share excerpts taken from over-the-air high-definition television broadcasts.

Regulators had told high-tech hardware makers to implement the so-called "broadcast flag" in order to give media companies expanded control over the content that is broadcast. The court struck down the FCC decision o­n the grounds that it had no right to regulate electronic devices such as PC television tuner cards without the express permission of Congress.

"The broadcast flag is another, unfortunate attempt to regulate the free flow of information and content throughout society," Computer & Communications Industry Association President Ed Black said. "Instead of embracing and creatively using the Internet, too many content providers have tried – and failed – to fence it in with clumsy measures such as these. Like so many bad ideas before it, the broadcast flag would have penalized ordinary consumers without doing anything to actually stop much of the illegal copying that takes place over electronic networks.

"It has been more than 10 years since the birth of the Internet browser, yet the basic lessons too often go unheeded: Congress must reassert its commitment to the non-regulation of the Internet and greater deregulation of distribution of communications and content via the Internet. Industrial policy disguised as intellectual property protections is unwise, and in this case designed to benefit the few to the detriment of the many."