Watching the Detectors

In the absence of NBC or Microsoft coming clean about what they've done - what flags NBC sent, and what flags Microsoft obeys, we've been doing some detective work of our own -- and we'd like your help.

NBC have already said that their activation of their copy-control system was a "mistake". But when the next mistake occurs is the best chance to uncover what copy-protection Vista obeys on digital, over-the-air TV.

We're looking to obtain raw data dumps of the ATSC stream next time your copy of Vista chokes on an over-the-air digital TV feed.

(Note that we're not looking for "Can't Record Program" errors with shows received via either CableCard units or analog TV tuners -- we know that Microsoft obeys copy controls on these systems. We just want cases where over-the-air, broadcast digital (HD) TV has been affected.)

Right now, we're asking owners of the HDHomeRun to watch out for this problem. We're concentrating on this device because many Windows users run this hardware in conjunction with Vista Media Center, so they'll be able to see when the problem arises. Also, it provides only digital HD information to your PC (allowing us to eliminate any analog copy-protection systems). Finally, it's relatively easy to make a complete copy of the digital TV datastream using HDHomeRun's command line utility. Here's how:

1. Go into Live TV mode in VMC and choose the problem NBC channel.

2. Check the HDHomeRun LEDs to determine if tuner 0 or tuner 1 is

   being used. The LEDs are in this order: (Power) (Ethernet, Tuner 0, Tuner1).

3. Record a 60 second sample of the stream:

   Open a cmd prompt and run:

   "C:\Program Files\Silicondust\HDHomeRun\hdhomerun_config" FFFFFFFF save /tuner0 sample.ts

   (specify tuner 1 if VMC is using tuner 1)

   Wait 60 seconds then press Ctrl-C to stop.

4. When you've got your sample, mail EFF at info@eff.org with a specification of your setup, the date, time and channel of the show. We'll get in touch.

If you know how to record the raw datastream (not just the MPEG2 data, the whole transport stream) on other hardware, let us know, and we'll add it to this blog entry.

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Microsoft's Masters: Whose Rules Does Your Media Center Play By?

While its customers are still puzzling over why Vista Media Center is suddenly refusing to record over-the-air NBC digital TV, Microsoft has come out with an astounding admission, courtesy of Greg Sandoval at CNet News:

"Microsoft included technologies in Windows based on rules set forth by the (Federal Communications Commission)," a Microsoft spokeswoman wrote in an e-mail to CNET News.com. "As part of these regulations, Windows Media Center fully adheres to the flags used by broadcasters and content owners to determine how their content is distributed and consumed."

Microsoft's statement shines light on how Microsoft expects Media Center to behave. If this is the company's explanation for what users are seeing when attempting to record digital NBC broadcasts over-the-air, then Microsoft is saying Vista obeys the broadcast flag: a requirement rejected by courts and Congress.

The FCC regulation that Microsoft's spokesperson says it follows is not in force - that is, there is no legal requirement for them to follow these rules. They were rejected by the D.C. Circuit of Appeals in a case brought forward by librarians, public interest and consumer groups (including EFF and Public Knowledge). Microsoft is not complying with the FCC: it is complying with the "broadcasters and content owners" who so dearly wanted the flag in place, and failed to manage it.

Even if Microsoft somehow believes the FCC regulations still apply, they are going far beyond mere compliance. Here's the FCC's rulemaking on the flag:

In light of our decision to adopt a redistribution control scheme and to avoid any confusion, we wish to reemphasize that our action herein in no way limits or prevents consumers from making copies of digital broadcast television content.

...

[The aim of the broadcast flag] will not ... interfere with or preclude consumers from copying broadcast programming and using or redistributing it within the home or similar personal environment as consistent with copyright law.

Here is Microsoft's interpretation of an over-the-air flag:

Note how Vista forbids recording this broadcast program at all: exactly what the FCC said the flag should not do. (The broadcast flag requirements allowed you to record TV, but required the recorded material be "protected" to prevent you from redistributing it beyond approved and locked-down devices). In Microsoft's attempt to "fully adhere', they have gone beyond what the FCC ever asked them to do: they have agreed to what broadcast and content owners could only dream of passing by fiat.

Microsoft's attempt to cover its behavior by claiming compliance with the FCC neither explains nor justifies the errors that their customers are currently seeing. The company needs to spell out exactly whose rules Vista is following, and exactly how they affect their customers computers' current and future behavior.

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Update: Why is NBC Flagging Digital TV Programs - and Why is Microsoft Obeying It?

After further investigation of reports of Vista refusing to record NBC, we have found at least one case where a user receiving digital TV over-the-air has been blocked from recording TV shows. Justin Sanders, who took this screenshot, says he was recording Raleigh's HDTV channel WNCN-DT1 on his Vista machine when a popup stating that "restrictions set by the broadcaster ... prohibit recording of this program" appeared.

This is significant: this is the first case we've heard of equipment voluntarily obeying broadcast flag-like restrictions on TV content digitally broadcast over-the-air.

The broadcast flag is a small piece of data broadcast alongside a digital TV program. The ability to flag broadcast content was created by the ATSC standard which governs digital TV broadcasts in the United States. By itself the broadcast flag cannot restrict use of broadcast content. Instead, its force comes from a tech mandate law - an FCC regulation - which required manufacturers of DTV-receiving devices to detect and respond to "switched on" broadcast flags. EFF and others opposed the use of the broadcast flag and fought successfully to have the FCC regulation overturned by the courts. We did that because it handed control over your hardware to a remote authority, limited your right to your fair use of media, and would have made illegal open source products like MythTV. As a result of that victory, manufacturers are not legally required to force their devices to detect and respond to the flag.

It would now appear that Microsoft has voluntarily chosen to obey such content restrictions in Vista, despite the successful work of thousands of users to defend Microsoft's right to innovate and our right to fair use. Justin was attempting to record the program on Windows Vista Ultimate using Silicon Dust's HDHomeRun external tuner, which decodes the digital TV signal, and sends it over Ethernet to many types of digital TV receivers, such as MythTV or EyeTV. As Silicon Dust says on its website, their decoder merely passes on the datastream, and does not interpret data like the broadcast flag field itself, so we know that it is Windows alone that has declared that this program should not be recorded.

To be perfectly clear: Microsoft is under no legal obligation to look for and respond in any particular way when it sees the broadcast flag being sent by NBC's digital stations. Any DTV-receiving software technology or device - like MythTV - is free to take the same stream from HDHomeRun and ignore a broadcast flag transmitted with it. In other words Microsoft did not have to build its PC to look for and refuse to record a program which has its flag turned on.

Had consumers not stood up against the FCC'S mandatory flag rule three years ago, alternatives like MythTV would no longer be available. Back then, the FCC tried to force tech companies (and open source developers) to obey the entertainment industry's remote TV control. A coalition of librarians, public interest organizations, and consumer groups successfully challenged the FCC's jurisdiction to impose such a broad regulation in Federal court. After the rightsholders lost in court, they spent millions lobbying Congress to pass a law forcing receivers to obey their command. Your letters and calls stopped that bill.

So why, after all that work, does Microsoft's software appear to honor content restriction? It's hard to say. Was it a content licensing requirement? Microsoft didn't have to do so if it just wanted its devices to decode and display over-the-air digital NBC broadcasts -- just as you don't need to sign a contract in order to decode and display the signals sent over the public airwaves into your living room. American consumers can choose what to do with their digital broadcast TV, just as they have been able with analog broadcast TV.

Perhaps it was an unintended mistake by Microsoft caused by the extensive DRM systems Vista has in place elsewhere. Perhaps Vista has been confused into thinking this open NBC datastream is a restricted CableCard feed, which can (and does) block recording. Or perhaps it it part of Vista's system for obeying CGMS-A, another copy control system that Microsoft voluntarily agreed to implement .

If it's a technical problem, Microsoft should confess, and fix it as soon as possible, before many more digital TV viewers are inconvenienced (and users switch to less encumbered devices in droves).

If, however, it is a deliberate "feature", they have some explaining to do. That would amount to putting the desires of content holders above the best interests of its customers. Even worse, it would mean they kept the deal silent while they marketed their broken hardware to those same unsuspecting customers.

We're now working with Silicon Dust to try to replicate the circumstances in which Vista failed to record, and to do further analysis. We'll keep you updated on what we learn.

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Does NBC Control Your TV?

Reports are coming in of digital video recording systems refusing to record NBC programs - both on digital cable and over-the-air transmissions.

We're still investigating whether these involved over-the-air digital TV, which would mean that NBC was the first broadcaster to attempt to revive the abandoned ATSC "broadcast flag" (as opposed to cable and analog copy control signals like CGMS-A which have been used before).

Thanks to the activism of thousands of concerned tech users, hardware and software manufacturers that handle over-the-air digital TV do not need to obey the digital TV broadcast flag. There is no "broadcast flag" copy control requirement for these tuners, since the courts overturned the FCC's plans to enforce it in 2005; and despite the entertainment industry's bluster, it does not look like a broadcast flag law will be passed before the digital switch-over next year.

However, hardware and software could voluntarily obey the flag. Rightsholders are almost certainly lobbying behind the scenes to get tech companies to agree to obey copy controls for over-the-air digital TV. Software like Vista is already designed to comply with rightsholder restrictions when working with standards like CableCard which contractually require copy protection. Turning the same restrictions on when a message is received from an over-the-air tuner is just a small coding step away.

At this point no one knows which tech companies have sold out their users in this way. For understandable reasons, manufacturers keep their compliance details quiet -- which is why customers are so angry when they encounter it. ATI has previously reported that they will support the broadcast flag, but this news was buried in a driver change log.

Companies that implement the over-the-air digital broadcast flag are under no obligation, contractually or due to FCC regulation, to do so. They have a choice. And so do their customers.

Millions of dollars will be spent in the next few months as America switches to digital television. Prosumers like those at "The Green Button" are often the first to be bitten by TV's copy restrictions, but they will not be the last.

Perhaps electronics magazines and online reviews should look into exactly how digital TV equipment is dealing with the rightsholders' demands, and publicize which companies still obey the redundant and user-unfriendly broadcast flag -- and which still listen to their customers.

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