Broadcast flag must be banned: US Senator

Glad there are some sane people who care about consumer rights left in the world.
Techdirt: Stopping The FCC From Imposing The Broadcast Flag Is Great, But It’s Congress You Really Gotta Worry About

For some time now, the likes of the MPAA and RIAA have tried to get the US government to mandate the broadcast flag — technology that would let content owners control how broadcast digital content could be consumed and recorded. Their initial strategy was to get the FCC to do the dirty work, but courts decided the Commission had overstepped its authority. Now, one senator who has opposed the broadcast flag before, John Sununu, is introducing legislation that would more clearly define boundaries for the FCC in similar matters by precluding it from imposing technology mandates on companies under its jurisdiction.

p2pnet.net - No Broadcast Flag, says Sununu

US senator John Sununu is calling for legislation to stop the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from forcing broadcast or audio flags on electronics makers.

Sununu Wants to Squelch FCC Flag Raising

Sununu added Monday, “The FCC seems to be under the belief that it should occasionally impose technology mandates. These misguided requirements distort the marketplace by forcing industry to adopt agency-blessed solutions rather than allow innovative and competitive approaches to develop.”
Under pressure from the music and movie industry and several key members of Congress, the FCC in 2004 adopted broadcast flag regulations, requiring electronic equipment capable of receiving digital television to include broadcast flag technology. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rejected the regulations in 2005 as beyond the regulatory scope of the FCC.

Here’s the Senator’s press release:

SUNUNU: FCC TECH MANDATES MUST BE BANNED WASHINGTON, DC – United States Senator John Sununu (R-NH) announced today (1/8) that he is working on legislation that would prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from imposing technology mandates on the communications industry. The bill, which would be based on a Sununu amendment approved during Senate Commerce Committee action last year, would prevent the FCC from requiring or imposing a specific technology, technological standard, solution, or product on industry.

“The FCC seems to be under the belief that it should occasionally impose technology mandates. These misguided requirements distort the marketplace by forcing industry to adopt agency-blessed solutions rather than allow innovative and competitive approaches to develop. We have seen this happen with the proposed video flag, and interest groups are pushing for an audio flag mandate as well,” said Sununu. “Whether well-intentioned or not, the FCC has no business interfering in private industry to satisfy select special interests or to impose its own views. My legislation will ensure that decisions about the design and development of products and services to meet FCC rules are made by technology experts, not government regulators.”

Sununu serves as a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and the Senate Republican High Tech Task Force. For more information about his work on technology-related issues, visit http://www.sununu.senate.gov/telecommunications.html.

See also this story from 2006: Techdirt: How Can The Same Senators Vote Against Net Neutrality, But For Broadcast Flag? (27 Jun 06)
Those who are against adding any language to the latest Telecom Act on net neutrality keep saying it’s important not to regulate the industry — because government involvement leads to inefficient results that could strangle the technology. That’s a defensible position (though, there are reasonable responses to it). However, what makes no sense at all is for a Senator to declare that net neutrality legislation isn’t needed because it’s a bad idea to regulate this important technology… and then turn around and support the idea of a broadcast flag in the exact same bill.