[mythtv-users] HDTV cards...looking to the future

Brad Fuller bradallenfuller at yahoo.com
Tue May 3 22:20:13 UTC 2005



Alan Hagge wrote:

> Offtopic, but hopefully relevant enough to not be flamed...
>
> Wendy Seltzer wrote:
>
>> My recommendation is to buy at least one card now.  The ATSC spec is 
>> fixed, and if the flag rule sticks, the current cards will be the 
>> only ones you can get (in the U.S.) that can give you the high-def 
>> digital signal for all channels.  If there are any PCI cards at all 
>> post-flag, they'll have to be "compliant" and "robust against user 
>> modification" -- which means not giving your general-purpose PC (a 
>> non-compliant device) the full digital signal for flagged broadcasts.
>
>
> Do we have any idea of the implication of the broadcast flag for the 
> US "public TV" (PBS) channels?  I mean, they're not "commercial" in 
> the same sense that ABC, NBC, CBS, etc. are, and I as a US citizen and 
> taxpayer am funding (both indirectly, through taxes, and directly, 
> through contributions) these channels for the express purpose of their 
> delivering content to me that I can use according to existing US "fair 
> use" laws.  Will the broadcast flag force law them to turn it on, or 
> is it up to the individual channels and programs (and their sponsors) 
> to decide what programming has the BF turned on?  Of course, the 
> thought of only having informercials broadcast without the BF flag 
> turned on makes me shudder...

Interesting question. It was my understanding that the copyright owner, 
not the broadcast network themselves (unless they own the particular 
program) are the ones that had the legal right to set the BF.


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