Audio Broadcast Flag legislation could ban home recording

It may have been a while since we've heard anything new from Congress about the Broadcast Flag's radio counterpart, the Audio Flag, but rest assured, your elected representatives haven't stopped thinking about it. And the latest incarnation of the law, the Audio Broadcast Flag Licensing Act of 2006, H.R. 4861, is a bill you might want to actually give a perusal. Turns out that, when it comes to digital radio, the bill basically takes away any "fair use" rights you might have assumed you had, and lets the record industry decide what you can and can't do with your radio. Want to record a radio show so you can listen to it later? Sorry, not unless the record industry says you can. Want to tape a couple of songs, so you can listen to them again before deciding whether to buy them? Forget about it. In fact, the law as written would require manufacturers to get FCC approval if they wanted to include recording functions in their digital radios. Of course, this is still just a bill, yes, it's only a bill, which means there's time to make some changes. And, as we've seen, there are at least some Senators who have doubts about giving the record industry even more control over what we can and can't listen to. Maybe teaching them all how to use an iPod isn't such a bad idea after all.

[Mark @ Mar 3rd 2006 4:16PM]

I am certainly not in favor of a restriction like this. But I think we need to remember that the audio broadcast flag is an attempt to stop the digital transfer of music. It does not ban home recording.

I understand we live in a digital age, but a very high quality recording could be made by feeding the analog output into the sound card and digitizing it. This can be done with digital radio, satellite radio, copy-protected CDs, audio from DVDs or any signal that reaches your speakers.

To my knowledge, there are no methods of inhibiting the digitization of an analog signal.

[Ian Jardine @ Mar 3rd 2006 4:19PM]

The ability of Government to "govern" is by their ability to pass Laws which the puiblic will obey and which can be effectively "policed". If a Government sets Laws which will be ignored and cannot be policed then that Government will be ineffective and ultimately fall.

[Joshua Ochs @ Mar 3rd 2006 4:29PM]

Mark, the whole point of this legislation is that there will be no more analog. How will you do what you propose when all equipment is digital, obeys the flag, and analog is forbidden? Look at the BS with Blu-Ray and HD-DVD if you don't believe me.

[Tom Karches @ Mar 3rd 2006 4:32PM]

I love to watch the entertainment industry commit financial suicide. At what point do consumers say "screw you" and refuse to consume their "product". I'm almost there, myself.

[obuck347 @ Mar 3rd 2006 4:36PM]

It is radio, who records that anyway?

[Jason @ Mar 3rd 2006 4:37PM]

There's no way they can plug the "analog hole" when it co comes to audio -- people are quite happy with average sound quality. It's not like they can require you to get all new speakers that are DRM-enabled. That trick may work for a while with video, where you can see the difference between high-def video and 480i broadcast video, but no one is going to buy into that for audio, not even the audiophile freaks.

[Craig @ Mar 3rd 2006 4:38PM]

Does anyone know if this will affect the new XM radios that will be released? I am planning to be the first kid on my block to buy either the Inno or the Helix. This may throw a monkey wrench in my decision to buy.

[SH @ Mar 3rd 2006 4:38PM]

Damn ... I thought the broadcast flag was bad, but this would literally undo fair use as it has been practiced for fifty years. Or at least 30, anyway. I'm going to use the info in this post and write to "my" elected representatives. This is NVTS! (Yeah, that a Mel Brooks reference.)

/SH

[alex @ Mar 3rd 2006 4:58PM]

"this is still just a bill, yes, it's only a bill"

sitting here on Capitol Hill.
Well, it's a long, long journey
To the capital city.
It's a long, long wait
While I'm sitting in committee

Let's just hope it'll never get out of committee and if it does and it means the downfall of Clear Channel, it can't be all bad.

[Ian Jardine @ Mar 3rd 2006 4:58PM]

Analog radio is on the way out. The Government believes it's not a good use for a wide spectrum of available spectrum. They want it ALL digital, just like TV. And they want to sell off the rleased spectrum for Billions....
Sadly very good analog is often nicer than digital, to the ear.
The RIAA is seeing this move to digital. Already they are changing their stance on "Fair USe" of CDs. i.e. they now don't want the consumer to be able to copy a CD onto an MP3 file, for use in the home, or on a portable player even. So what's the likely fall out? Possibly an END to CD Sales, with music ONLY available via music sites (like itunes) and with DRM software which inbits the movement to another player or desktop. Scary Huh? (You might have to buy the same music multiple times). Especially since ALL music websites offer music at a much lower quality than on a CD......... So the RIA wins. They offer a lower quality product, thru a cheaper distribution channel and they cripple ones "Fair Use" of this material.
This is their view of the future....

[Torontoguy @ Mar 3rd 2006 5:25PM]

If we give senators a set of lock-picks maybe they will see what fun and profit there is in burglary and take away legal restrictions on that too! It makes about as much sense as teaching them that it can seem harmless to steal music.

[Chris @ Mar 3rd 2006 6:20PM]

Seriously, at SOME point you have absolutely got to do a D/A conversion, right? I mean, you are physically making something move back and forth in the real world. How can you EVER block the analog hole? Are they going to force all children to have their eyes and ears removed and retrofit them with a digital brain jack that can only be fed by a gov't approved 'digital media consumption gear'?

We'll still be able to buy alcohol and tobacco but you will face serious jail time for creating an 'digital audio circumvention device' (read: audio speaker)

Give me a break.

[Russell @ Mar 3rd 2006 7:10PM]

They've already done this with the HDCP/HDMI crap for video.

HD players will only output HD resolutions on the digital output (not the component) so with the HDCP system the content is protected all the way to the display controller in your TV...

There are ways to capture analog component HD video but most players / set top boxes will lose that ability soon, probably around the time that it becomes financially viable to build a system to capture and encode analog component HD on the fly at home.

[Matt @ Mar 3rd 2006 7:37PM]

#11 Copywrite violation is not stealing. You don't get arrested for copywrite violation, you get sued. So spare us your bad burglery analagies.

[strider_mt2k @ Mar 3rd 2006 10:09PM]

When copying is outlawed, only outlaws will buy cables at Radio Shack.

[Jazzy Jeff @ Mar 4th 2006 12:02AM]

I give kudos to the Sprint music store for allowing users to download a copy of their favorite music tracks to their phones and to their PCs. It costs a little more that way but it's a step in the right direction. Now I'd like to see MovieLink and its ilk do that with movies.

[steve @ Mar 4th 2006 8:26AM]

It is very important to get in touch with your representative and senators. They are rarely contacted by their constituents on issues like this and it can make a real difference. A well-written letter, conversations with staffers, etc ...

I have contacted both of my senators about the broadcast flag issue and asked staffers how much public interest there was. (this is in NJ which has folks like Ed Felton doing serious research on the subject) Both offices said it wasn't on their radar. One checked and found an email and a physical letter in the last three months on the subject. When a lobbyist rolls in, guess who wins if the public doesn't care?

[mike @ Mar 4th 2006 9:41AM]

I had no idea that the ability to steal music was a central element of the U.S. Constitution or a God-given right. The courts have always held that there is no legal penalty for recording under the doctrine of "fair use," they've NEVER said that the owners have no right to decide how their property will be distributed.

You bunch of whiney losers should get a job, pay for the content you want (or not if you don't), and get over it.

[DeeDub @ Mar 4th 2006 12:12PM]

The bottom line is we aren't going to get a proper slate of HD coming across non-pay TV until there is a broadcast flag or something similiar. It will be limited to live event, pay-per-view and HBO et al. If I were the one spending money developing a show, I'd feel the same way.

So...figure out what it is you really want.

[ScottE @ Mar 4th 2006 2:37PM]

"Copywrite violation is not stealing"

stealing from the RIAA's corporate machine built on collusion, corruption, and deceit.

Burglary is very different from stealing music from a large corporation, not a very accurate analogy.

[Chas @ Mar 5th 2006 1:38AM]

I believe in intellectual property. I believe in having an implicit license to own said property....wellll...to license for life?...er...um....but I swear, the owners of DRM protected material are going to commit suicide if they continue their ways....seeing mass disobedience of the so called laws...including major company CEO,CFO's..throwing down the gauntlet as it were and saying "We can't make heads or tails of your tax codes...and I cannot guarrantee the accuracy of our tax report this year"....individuals will be laughing at the complexity of the DRM as it looms over them and simply choose to thumb their nose at it...

Legit laws...HAH!....ask your senator or Rep...how many of the bills they voted for....they read...first?

If my right of "fair use" is taken away from me...you can be there will very definitely be a "Gray revolution." of the most significant kind.

now go play nice children...

Chas

[Travelsonic @ Mar 5th 2006 4:05PM]

This issue is far beyond the issue of copying music and the copyright violations (calling it anything else is for orwellian dictators, it is copyright infringement and ntohing more, and you are doing nothing but failing to understand/divert from the real issue.) potentially/that are involved but what was legal and permissible will now be outlawed deceptively. The major industries claim this will balance out the control, when they already are the ones passing laws, and controlling the radio... doesn't something seem wrong? It seems like they want more power, a dangerous thing indeed because this could easily slide us further down a path toward orwellian life we are going down already, where common sense is blurred and opposition is blinded for power hungry. Is recording a song off the radio for your own personal use REALLY such a bad thing? Where will this lead to next? I sure as hell don't want to know.

[Cindy @ Jun 18th 2006 1:36AM]

One point that has not been raised by our side is the fact that broadcasters have usurped Americas culture. We as a nation have NO culture unless we can pay for it; piecemeal. The nation can not remain cohesive under these circumstances.

The "airwaves" MUST be returned to We the People. Without them, we have no nation in the future... We will cease to exist in our present form and become completely oppressed. A third world nation with no sense of an advanced civilization.

[Brock @ Apr 13th 2008 1:06PM]

I think it's misguided to only focus on the "government". We forget that these bums are all venal prostitutes to their constituents. The bottom line is always that their "Bills" and proposals are the requests of the greedy tyrants & industries that line their pockets. It's amazing that anyone still thinks these whores "represent" us in any way.