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HTTP/2 302 server: nginx date: Thu, 09 Oct 2025 01:33:14 GMT content-type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 content-length: 0 x-archive-redirect-reason: found capture at 20081218160331 location: https://web.archive.org/web/20081218160331/https://www.eff.org/issues/broadcast-flag server-timing: captures_list;dur=0.685472, exclusion.robots;dur=0.036171, exclusion.robots.policy;dur=0.021249, esindex;dur=0.016954, cdx.remote;dur=13.675368, LoadShardBlock;dur=159.610869, PetaboxLoader3.datanode;dur=52.627235, PetaboxLoader3.resolve;dur=17.547556 x-app-server: wwwb-app200 x-ts: 302 x-tr: 209 server-timing: TR;dur=0,Tw;dur=0,Tc;dur=1 set-cookie: wb-p-SERVER=wwwb-app200; path=/ x-location: All x-rl: 0 x-na: 0 x-page-cache: MISS server-timing: MISS x-nid: DigitalOcean referrer-policy: no-referrer-when-downgrade permissions-policy: interest-cohort=() HTTP/2 200 server: nginx date: Thu, 09 Oct 2025 01:33:14 GMT content-type: text/html; charset=utf-8 x-archive-orig-date: Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:59:36 GMT x-archive-orig-server: Apache x-archive-orig-expires: Sun, 19 Nov 1978 05:00:00 GMT x-archive-orig-last-modified: Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:59:36 GMT x-archive-orig-cache-control: store, no-cache, must-revalidate x-archive-orig-cache-control: post-check=0, pre-check=0 x-archive-orig-vary: Accept-Encoding x-archive-orig-connection: close x-archive-orig-content-language: en x-archive-guessed-content-type: text/html x-archive-guessed-charset: utf-8 memento-datetime: Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:03:31 GMT link: ; rel="original", ; rel="timemap"; type="application/link-format", ; rel="timegate", ; rel="first memento"; datetime="Sun, 16 Dec 2007 02:04:30 GMT", ; rel="prev memento"; datetime="Mon, 01 Dec 2008 02:02:34 GMT", ; rel="memento"; datetime="Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:03:31 GMT", ; rel="next memento"; datetime="Sun, 21 Dec 2008 17:13:01 GMT", ; rel="last memento"; datetime="Sat, 15 Mar 2025 12:01:55 GMT" content-security-policy: default-src 'self' 'unsafe-eval' 'unsafe-inline' data: blob: archive.org web.archive.org web-static.archive.org wayback-api.archive.org athena.archive.org analytics.archive.org pragma.archivelab.org wwwb-events.archive.org x-archive-src: 50_7_20081218123724_crawl101-c/50_7_20081218155115_crawl103.arc.gz server-timing: captures_list;dur=0.631558, exclusion.robots;dur=0.037272, exclusion.robots.policy;dur=0.020251, esindex;dur=0.015939, cdx.remote;dur=24.450605, LoadShardBlock;dur=118.123250, PetaboxLoader3.datanode;dur=84.633790, PetaboxLoader3.resolve;dur=66.229502, load_resource;dur=85.337960 x-app-server: wwwb-app200 x-ts: 200 x-tr: 283 server-timing: TR;dur=0,Tw;dur=0,Tc;dur=1 x-location: All x-rl: 0 x-na: 0 x-page-cache: MISS server-timing: MISS x-nid: DigitalOcean referrer-policy: no-referrer-when-downgrade permissions-policy: interest-cohort=() content-encoding: gzip Broadcast Flag | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Broadcast Flag

Today, you can use any device you like with your television: VCR, TiVo, DVD recorder, home theater receiver, or a PC combining these functions and more. But if the broadcast flag mandate is passed, Hollywood and federal bureaucrats will get a veto over innovative devices and legitimate uses of recorded programming.

The mandate forces all future digital television (DTV) tuners to include "content protection" (aka DRM) technologies. All makers of HDTV receivers will be required to build their devices to watch for a "flag" embedded in programs by copyright holders.

When it comes to digital recording, it would be Hollywood's DRM way or the highway. Want to burn that recording digitally to a DVD to save hard drive space? Sorry, the DRM lock-box won't allow it. How about sending it over your home network to another TV? Not unless you rip out your existing network and replace it with DRMd routers. And forget about using open source TV tools. Kind of defeats the purpose of getting a high definition digital signal, doesn't it?

Responding to pressure from Hollywood, the FCC had originally mandated the flag, but thanks to our court challenge, ALA v. FCC, it was thrown out. But that doesn't mean the danger is behind us. Hollywood has headed to Congress to ask for the flag again.