FCC Missing The Point On The Broadcast Flag
from the you-said-what? dept
While I've already said that some folks may be focusing too much attention on the whole broadcast flag issue, that doesn't mean people should let shoddy reporting and ridiculous comments on the subject go by. Reuters is running an article that is a bit scary on two fronts. First off, it contains a quote from the head of the FCC's media bureau that suggests he has no idea what he's talking about. When asked about the broadcast flag, he says: "It will simply prevent consumers from illegal piracy, from mass distribution over the Internet, which is the problem with the music file sharing." Except, simply, it won't do that at all. It's only designed to make life more difficult for consumers doing perfectly legal things, but will do nothing to slow down file sharing. They also seem to think the big complaint from people is that this will require everyone to go out and buy new hardware, which is a stupid side effect, but hardly the main complaint from most people. The second (and perhaps) bigger problem with the article is that it seems to repeat all of this as if it's fact, and gives no weight to the (increasingly vocal) folks who see all the problems the broadcast flag presents. Former FCC guy Kevin Werbach comments on the idiocy of what's said in the article.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Protect them from their viewers
So in conclusion, we are all likely to be watching much less television in the future.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
No Subject Given
Why does this surprise you? It's par for the course for most journalists, especially at a barely competent outfit like Reuters.
[ link to this | view in thread ]