[mythtv-users] Broadcast flag thrown out

Lane Schwartz dowobeha at gmail.com
Fri May 6 17:00:41 UTC 2005


On 5/6/05, Brian J. Murrell <brian at interlinx.bc.ca> wrote:
> On Fri, 2005-05-06 at 08:34 -0700, Wendy Seltzer wrote:
> > The DC Circuit has ruled in our favor, unanimously throwing out the
> > FCC's broadcast flag -- the rule that would have prevented pcHDTV and
> > Air2PC from making HDTV tuner cards in the US after July 1.
>
> Will the DC Circuit's ruling help in any way in stopping something like
> this from going through Congress?

After reading the court's decision, I would say no - Congress could
still re-instate the flag.

The court basically said that the FCC does not have the authority to
mandate the broadcast flag. That is, Congress has never granted the
FCC the authority required to mandate the flag.

Because of that, Congress almost certainly could grant the FCC that
power, or Congress could pass a law equivalent to the FCC's rule. If
Congress does either of those things, then the rule could be back on
us, and this court decision would not apply.

I agree with Scott - we need to get the word out about the benefits of
Myth to our members of Congress and their staffers. The question isn't
if Congress will take this issue back up, but when and how
ferociously.

In the meantime, three cheers for the EFF!!! I think it's time I
became a member.

Lane

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