Broadcast flag
Encyclopedia
A broadcast flag is a set of status bit
s (or a "flag
") sent in the data stream of a digital television
program that indicates whether or not the data stream can be recorded, or if there are any restrictions on recorded content. Possible restrictions include the inability to save an unencrypted digital program to a hard disk
or other non-volatile storage, inability to make secondary copies of recorded content (in order to share or archive), forceful reduction of quality when recording (such as reducing high-definition
video to the resolution of standard TVs
), and inability to skip over commercials.
, new television receivers
using the ATSC standard were supposed to incorporate this functionality by July 1, 2005.
The rule's Demodulator Compliance Requirements insists that all HDTV demodulators must "listen" for the flag (or assume it to be present in all signals). Flagged content must be output only to "protected outputs" (such as DVI
and HDMI
ports with HDCP
encryption), or in degraded form through analog outputs or digital
outputs with visual resolution of 720x480 pixels (EDTV
) or less. Flagged content may be recorded only by "authorized" methods, which may include tethering of recordings to a single device.
Since broadcast flags could be activated at any time, a viewer who often records a program might suddenly find that it is no longer possible to save their favorite show. This and other reasons lead many to see the flags as a direct affront to consumer rights.
Particularly troubling to open source
developers are the Demodulator Robustness Requirements. Devices must be "robust" against user access or modifications so that someone could not easily alter it to ignore the broadcast flags that permit access to the full digital stream. Since open-source device driver
s are by design user-modifiable, a PC TV tuner card
with open-source drivers would not be "robust". It is unclear whether binary-only drivers would qualify. In theory it would likely be illegal for open-source projects such as the MythTV
project, which creates personal video recorder (PVR) software, to interface with digital television demodulators.
Some companies currently manufacturing devices, such as the pcHDTV devices intended for the Linux
market, would likely be forced to halt production. This portion of the rule also effectively prevents individuals from building their own high-definition television sets and receiving devices. (It may seem far-fetched to a layman, but there have been many instances in the past where engineers have built their own analog TVs, and it follows that some people would wish to continue such pursuits in the digital age. The technologies used will most likely be centered around software-defined radio
, fast ADCs
and FPGA
chips - tools with so generic use their availability can not be effectively restricted.)
The GNU Radio
project already successfully demonstrated that purely software-based demodulators can exist and the hardware rule is not fully enforceable.
for the D.C. Circuit
ruled that the FCC had exceeded its authority in creating this rule. The court stated that the Commission could not prohibit the manufacture of computer
or video hardware without copy protection technology because the FCC only has authority to regulate transmissions, not devices that receive communications. While it is always possible that the Supreme Court could overturn this holding, the more likely reemergence of the broadcast flag is in legislation of the United States Congress
granting such authority to the FCC.
On May 1, 2006, Sen. Ted Stevens
inserted a version of the Broadcast Flag into the Communications, Consumer’s Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006. On June 22, 2006 Sen. John E. Sununu
offered an amendment to strike the broadcast and radio flag, but this failed and the broadcast-flag amendment was approved by the Commerce committee
. Nonetheless, the overall bill was never passed, and thus died upon adjournment of the 109th Congress in December 2006.
On May 18, 2008, News.com reported that Microsoft
had confirmed that current versions of Windows Media Center
shipping with the Windows
family of operating systems adhered to the use of the broadcast flag, following reports of users being blocked from taping specific airings of NBC
programs, mainly American Gladiators
and Medium
. A Microsoft spokeperson said that Windows Media Center adheres to the "rules set forth by the FCC", even though no legislation actually requires following such rules.
On August 22, 2011, the FCC officially eliminated the broadcast flag regulations.
and Todd Rundgren
.
European public service broadcasters are more likely to push for additional signals to indicate that content should not be encrypted in receiver devices, and that such receivers should also ignore any revocations while playing the specific content item.
How adherence to such a flag would be enforced in a receiver is not yet clear. One candidate approach could be the DVB-CPCM standard. There is no European equivalent to the US FCC to create and enforce regulations, so a coherent multinational legal framework is hard to imagine at this time.
In the UK the BBC introduced content protection restrictions in Summer 2010 on Free to Air content by licensing data necessary to receive the service information for the Freeview HD broadcasts. However the BBC have stated the highest protection applied will be to allow only one copy to be made.
broadcasts are protected as to allow the broadcast to be digitally recorded once, but to not allow digital copies of the recording to be made. Analog recordings can be copied freely. It is possible to disallow the use of analog outputs, although this has yet to be implemented. The protection can be circumvented with the correct hardware and software.
which allows broadcasters (especially PayTV broadcaster) far more control over the use of content on (and beyond) home networks. The DVB standards are commonly used in Europe and around the world (for satellite, terrestrial, and cable distribution), but are also employed in the United States by Dish Network
. In Europe, some entertainment companies are lobbying to legally mandate the use of DVB-CPCM in the next level of the controversial EU Copyright directive. Opponents fear that mandating DVB-CPCM will kill independent receiver manufacturers that use open source operating systems (e.g., Linux-based set-top boxes.)
Should the US broadcast flag return, CPCM would be a candidate for addition to the Table A list of approved technologies for enforcement in the US.
movies on cable
and satellite television
have been flagged so that recordings cannot stay on digital video recorder
s or other related devices sold or leased to you from your cable or satellite provider for more than 24 hours after the movie begins. The change was a result of negotiations between the major movie studio
s and the PPV providers. Movies recorded before April 15 may still be available from the device. This does not affect customers who own their own DVRs not provided by the cable or satellite provider, although it may be difficult and require manual intervention to record PPV content on these devices. However with the natural progression of cable providers to provide movies on their video on demand
services and discontinue pay-per-view movie channels, this issue should fade in the next few years.
Related intellectual property subjects
Bit
A bit is the basic unit of information in computing and telecommunications; it is the amount of information stored by a digital device or other physical system that exists in one of two possible distinct states...
s (or a "flag
Flag (computing)
In computer programming, flag can refer to one or more bits that are used to store a binary value or code that has an assigned meaning, but can refer to uses of other data types...
") sent in the data stream of a digital television
Digital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
program that indicates whether or not the data stream can be recorded, or if there are any restrictions on recorded content. Possible restrictions include the inability to save an unencrypted digital program to a hard disk
Hard disk
A hard disk drive is a non-volatile, random access digital magnetic data storage device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure. Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads that float on a film of air above the...
or other non-volatile storage, inability to make secondary copies of recorded content (in order to share or archive), forceful reduction of quality when recording (such as reducing high-definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
video to the resolution of standard TVs
Standard-definition television
Sorete-definition television is a television system that uses a resolution that is not considered to be either enhanced-definition television or high-definition television . The term is usually used in reference to digital television, in particular when broadcasting at the same resolution as...
), and inability to skip over commercials.
Where first used
In the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, new television receivers
ATSC tuner
An ATSC tuner, often called an ATSC receiver or HDTV tuner is a type of television tuner that allows reception of digital television television channels transmitted by television stations in North America, parts of Central America and South Korea that use ATSC standards...
using the ATSC standard were supposed to incorporate this functionality by July 1, 2005.
The FCC Broadcast flag ruling
Officially called "Digital Broadcast Television Redistribution Control," the FCC's rule is in 47 CFR 73.9002(b) and the following sections, stating in part: "No party shall sell or distribute in interstate commerce a Covered Demodulator Product that does not comply with the Demodulator Compliance Requirements and Demodulator Robustness Requirements." According to the rule, hardware must "actively thwart" piracy.The rule's Demodulator Compliance Requirements insists that all HDTV demodulators must "listen" for the flag (or assume it to be present in all signals). Flagged content must be output only to "protected outputs" (such as DVI
Digital Visual Interface
The Digital Visual Interface is a video interface standard covering the transmission of video between a source device and a display device. The DVI standard has achieved widespread acceptance in the PC industry, both in desktop PCs and monitors...
and HDMI
High-Definition Multimedia Interface
HDMI is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data. It is a digital alternative to consumer analog standards, such as radio frequency coaxial cable, composite video, S-Video, SCART, component video, D-Terminal, or VGA...
ports with HDCP
High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection
High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection is a form of digital copy protection developed by Intel Corporation to prevent copying of digital audio and video content as it travels across connections...
encryption), or in degraded form through analog outputs or digital
Digital
A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
outputs with visual resolution of 720x480 pixels (EDTV
Enhanced-definition television
Enhanced-definition television, or extended-definition television, is a United States Consumer Electronics Association marketing shorthand term for certain digital television formats and devices...
) or less. Flagged content may be recorded only by "authorized" methods, which may include tethering of recordings to a single device.
Since broadcast flags could be activated at any time, a viewer who often records a program might suddenly find that it is no longer possible to save their favorite show. This and other reasons lead many to see the flags as a direct affront to consumer rights.
Particularly troubling to open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
developers are the Demodulator Robustness Requirements. Devices must be "robust" against user access or modifications so that someone could not easily alter it to ignore the broadcast flags that permit access to the full digital stream. Since open-source device driver
Device driver
In computing, a device driver or software driver is a computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a hardware device....
s are by design user-modifiable, a PC TV tuner card
TV tuner card
A TV tuner card is a kind of television tuner that allows television signals to be received by a computer. Most TV tuners also function as video capture cards, allowing them to record television programs onto a hard disk much like the Tivo digital video recorder does.-Variants: The interfaces for...
with open-source drivers would not be "robust". It is unclear whether binary-only drivers would qualify. In theory it would likely be illegal for open-source projects such as the MythTV
MythTV
MythTV is a free and open source home entertainment application with a simplified "10-foot user interface" design for the living-room TV, and turns a computer with the necessary hardware into a network streaming digital video recorder, a digital multimedia home entertainment system, or home theater...
project, which creates personal video recorder (PVR) software, to interface with digital television demodulators.
Some companies currently manufacturing devices, such as the pcHDTV devices intended for the Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
market, would likely be forced to halt production. This portion of the rule also effectively prevents individuals from building their own high-definition television sets and receiving devices. (It may seem far-fetched to a layman, but there have been many instances in the past where engineers have built their own analog TVs, and it follows that some people would wish to continue such pursuits in the digital age. The technologies used will most likely be centered around software-defined radio
Software-defined radio
A software-defined radio system, or SDR, is a radio communication system where components that have been typically implemented in hardware are instead implemented by means of software on a personal computer or embedded computing devices...
, fast ADCs
Analog-to-digital converter
An analog-to-digital converter is a device that converts a continuous quantity to a discrete time digital representation. An ADC may also provide an isolated measurement...
and FPGA
Field-programmable gate array
A field-programmable gate array is an integrated circuit designed to be configured by the customer or designer after manufacturing—hence "field-programmable"...
chips - tools with so generic use their availability can not be effectively restricted.)
The GNU Radio
GNU Radio
GNU Radio is a free software toolkit for learning about, building, and deploying software-defined radio systems. GNU Radio is released under the GPL version 3 license....
project already successfully demonstrated that purely software-based demodulators can exist and the hardware rule is not fully enforceable.
Current status
In American Library Association v. FCC, 406 F.3d 689 (D.C. Cir. 2005), the United States Court of AppealsUnited States court of appeals
The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal court system...
for the D.C. Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit known informally as the D.C. Circuit, is the federal appellate court for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Appeals from the D.C. Circuit, as with all the U.S. Courts of Appeals, are heard on a...
ruled that the FCC had exceeded its authority in creating this rule. The court stated that the Commission could not prohibit the manufacture of computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
or video hardware without copy protection technology because the FCC only has authority to regulate transmissions, not devices that receive communications. While it is always possible that the Supreme Court could overturn this holding, the more likely reemergence of the broadcast flag is in legislation of the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
granting such authority to the FCC.
On May 1, 2006, Sen. Ted Stevens
Ted Stevens
Theodore Fulton "Ted" Stevens, Sr. was a United States Senator from Alaska, serving from December 24, 1968, until January 3, 2009, and thus the longest-serving Republican senator in history...
inserted a version of the Broadcast Flag into the Communications, Consumer’s Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006. On June 22, 2006 Sen. John E. Sununu
John E. Sununu
John Edward Sununu is a former Republican United States Senator from New Hampshire, of Lebanese and Palestinian Christian ancestry. Sununu was the youngest member of the Senate for his entire six year term. He is the son of former New Hampshire Governor John H...
offered an amendment to strike the broadcast and radio flag, but this failed and the broadcast-flag amendment was approved by the Commerce committee
United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
The United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is a standing committee of the United States Senate in charge of all senate matters related to the following subjects:* Coast Guard* Coastal zone management* Communications...
. Nonetheless, the overall bill was never passed, and thus died upon adjournment of the 109th Congress in December 2006.
On May 18, 2008, News.com reported that Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
had confirmed that current versions of Windows Media Center
Windows Media Center
Windows Media Center is a digital video recorder and media player developed by Microsoft. It is an application that allows users to view and record live television, as well as organize and play music and videos...
shipping with the Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
family of operating systems adhered to the use of the broadcast flag, following reports of users being blocked from taping specific airings of NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
programs, mainly American Gladiators
American Gladiators (2008 TV series)
American Gladiators is an American competition TV show that aired on NBC and Citytv in Canada. Hosted by Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali, the show matches amateur athletes against each other and the show's own "gladiators" in contests of strength, agility, and endurance...
and Medium
Medium (TV series)
Medium is an American television drama series that premiered on NBC on January 3, 2005, and ended on CBS on January 21, 2011. Themed on supernatural gifts, its lead character, Allison DuBois , is a medium employed as a consultant for the Phoenix, Arizona district attorney's office...
. A Microsoft spokeperson said that Windows Media Center adheres to the "rules set forth by the FCC", even though no legislation actually requires following such rules.
On August 22, 2011, the FCC officially eliminated the broadcast flag regulations.
Radio broadcast flag and RIAA
With the coming of digital radio, the recording industry is attempting to change the ground rules for copyright of songs played on radio. Currently, over the air (i.e. broadcast but not Internet) radio stations may play songs freely but RIAA wants Congress to insert a radio broadcast flag. On April 26, 2006, Congress held a hearing over the radio broadcast flag. Among the witnesses were musicians Anita BakerAnita Baker
Anita Baker is an American R&B/soul jazz singer-songwriter. To date, Baker has won eight Grammy Awards, and has four platinum albums and two gold albums to her credit....
and Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop-wunderkind, supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, Todd Rundgren's career has produced a diverse range of recordings...
.
European Broadcast Flag
At present there is no equivalent signal defined in the European DVB standards. However, there have been recent moves in the DVB to define such a flag for use on clear-to-air television broadcasts. While this will probably include a "do not redistribute" bit similar to the American approach, a modified ATSC Broadcast Flag data stature will probably not be used by the Europeans, as the ATSC structure probably cannot be extended to meet their needs.European public service broadcasters are more likely to push for additional signals to indicate that content should not be encrypted in receiver devices, and that such receivers should also ignore any revocations while playing the specific content item.
How adherence to such a flag would be enforced in a receiver is not yet clear. One candidate approach could be the DVB-CPCM standard. There is no European equivalent to the US FCC to create and enforce regulations, so a coherent multinational legal framework is hard to imagine at this time.
In the UK the BBC introduced content protection restrictions in Summer 2010 on Free to Air content by licensing data necessary to receive the service information for the Freeview HD broadcasts. However the BBC have stated the highest protection applied will be to allow only one copy to be made.
ISDB
ISDBISDB
Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting is a Japanese standard for digital television and digital radio used by the country's radio and television stations. ISDB replaced the previously used MUSE "Hi-vision" analogue HDTV system...
broadcasts are protected as to allow the broadcast to be digitally recorded once, but to not allow digital copies of the recording to be made. Analog recordings can be copied freely. It is possible to disallow the use of analog outputs, although this has yet to be implemented. The protection can be circumvented with the correct hardware and software.
DVB-CPCM
The Digital Video Broadcasting organization is developing DVB-CPCMDVB-CPCM
DVB Content Protection & Copy Management often abbreviated to DVB-CPCM or CPCM is a digital rights management standard being developed by the DVB Project...
which allows broadcasters (especially PayTV broadcaster) far more control over the use of content on (and beyond) home networks. The DVB standards are commonly used in Europe and around the world (for satellite, terrestrial, and cable distribution), but are also employed in the United States by Dish Network
Dish Network
Dish Network Corporation is the second largest pay TV provider in the United States, providing direct broadcast satellite service—including satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services—to 14.337 million commercial and residential customers in the United States. Dish...
. In Europe, some entertainment companies are lobbying to legally mandate the use of DVB-CPCM in the next level of the controversial EU Copyright directive. Opponents fear that mandating DVB-CPCM will kill independent receiver manufacturers that use open source operating systems (e.g., Linux-based set-top boxes.)
Should the US broadcast flag return, CPCM would be a candidate for addition to the Table A list of approved technologies for enforcement in the US.
Pay-per-view movies on Cable Provider Provided DVRs
Since April 15, 2008, pay-per-viewPay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
movies on cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
and satellite television
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
have been flagged so that recordings cannot stay on digital video recorder
Digital video recorder
A digital video recorder , sometimes referred to by the merchandising term personal video recorder , is a consumer electronics device or application software that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card or other local or networked mass storage device...
s or other related devices sold or leased to you from your cable or satellite provider for more than 24 hours after the movie begins. The change was a result of negotiations between the major movie studio
Movie studio
A movie studio is a term used to describe a major entertainment company or production company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to film movies...
s and the PPV providers. Movies recorded before April 15 may still be available from the device. This does not affect customers who own their own DVRs not provided by the cable or satellite provider, although it may be difficult and require manual intervention to record PPV content on these devices. However with the natural progression of cable providers to provide movies on their video on demand
Video on demand
Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
services and discontinue pay-per-view movie channels, this issue should fade in the next few years.
See also
- Copy Control InformationCopy Control InformationCopy Control Information is a two byte flag included in digital television streams that allows content owners to specify how content can be duplicated....
Related intellectual property subjects
- Digital Millennium Copyright ActDigital Millennium Copyright ActThe Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization . It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services intended to circumvent measures that control access to...
- Digital Transition Content Security ActDigital Transition Content Security ActThe United States The Digital Transition Content Security Act was a bill introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner Jr., a Wisconsin Republican, on December 16, 2005. The bill was backed by Democratic Rep. John Conyers.Its goal is "To require certain analog conversion...
- Family Entertainment and Copyright ActFamily Entertainment and Copyright ActThe Family Entertainment and Copyright Act is a federal legislative act regarding copyright that became law in the United States in 2005. The Act consists of two subparts: the Artist's Rights and Theft Prevention Act of 2005, which increases penalties for copyright infringement, and the Family...
External links
Related to legal or technological status of the Broadcast flag- Copyright Protection of Digital Television: The “Broadcast Flag”
- Electronic Frontier Foundation's Broadcast Flag page
- The Broadcast Flag and "Plug & Play": The FCC's Lockdown of Digital Television
- U.S. District Court shoots down broadcast flag (CNET)
- Broadcast Flag: Media Industry May Try to Steal the Law - June 2005 MP3 NewswireMP3 NewswireFounded in 1998, the same year as MP3.com, MP3 Newswire is the oldest active news site devoted to digital media technology. Notable for its series of essays that chronicled the rise of digital music and the Internet’s acrimonious relationship with the record industry, MP3 Newswire initially was...
article - Circuit Court ruling striking down (PDF format)