Lasica Burns the Broadcast Flag
J.D. Lasica has written a scorching Reason article criticizing Michael Powell's "invisible legacy" -- the broadcast flag technology mandate.
Snippet (emphasis and hyperlink, mine):
In telecom policy, Powell lived up to his deregulation rhetoric. But there's another legacy Powell is bequeathing us, one that has been scarcely mentioned in the press: the FCC as Federal Computer Commission...The larger problem is that Powell and the FCC are treating us as consumers rather than users. The federal agency has essentially endorsed Hollywood's line that digital televisions, personal video recorders, DVD recorders, and computers are no more than playback devices for Big Entertainment content rather than intelligent machines that can store, alter, remix and share digital bits.
Spot on.
EFF is part of a legal challenge to the FCC's authority to impose the broadcast flag tech mandate; check out our case archive to learn more.
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