The FCC says it has power over anything that can receive and play a digital file
We don't much like how the Broadcast Flag forces companies like TiVo to get government approval before they can add new features to their products, but Susan Crawford writes that what's even scarier is how the FCC is using it as part of a power grab to wield control over everything that can receive a digital file. In a brief filed in a suit brought against the Broadcast Flag by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and PublicKnowlegde, the FCC argues that not only do they have the right to regulate that all digital TVs, settop boxes, digital video recorders, satellite receivers, DVD recorders, etc. only be able to receive authorized content, that they also have regulatory power over "all instrumentalities, facilities, and apparatus 'associated with the overall circuit of messages sent and received' via all interstate radio and wire communication." And yes, that also means your PC, your cellphone, or basically anything else that is capable of receiving a digital file and engages in some sort of communication.
[Via BoingBoing]
