Posted on 12/19/2005 11:15:09 AM PST by ShadowAce
A frightening bit of legislation was introduced to the US House Judiciary Committee on Friday. The Digital Transition Content Security Act of 2005 (PDF) is sponsored by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) (PDF) and would close that pesky analog hole that poses such a dire threat to the survival of the music and movie industries. The bill was originally planned for introduction in early November, but was tabled after hearings held by the House Subcomittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property.
Calling the ability to convert analog video content to a digital format a "significant technical weakness in content protection," H.R. 4569 would require all consumer electronics video devices manufactured more than 12 months after the DTCSA is passed to be able to detect and obey a "rights signaling system" that would be used to limit how content is viewed and used. That rights signaling system would consist of two DRM technologies, Video Encoded Invisible Light (VEIL) and Content Generation Management System—Analog (CGMS-A), which would be embedded in broadcasts and other analog video content.
Under the legislation, all devices sold in the US would fall under the auspices of the DTCSA: it would be illegal to "manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide or otherwise traffic" in such products. It's a dream-come-true for Hollywood, and in combination with a new broadcast flag legislation (not yet introduced) would strike a near-fatal blow to the long-established right of Fair Use.
According to Reps. Sensenbrenner and Conyers, the legislation is absolutely necessary because of the dire threat PCs and the Internet pose to the content-creation industry's very livelihood. Apparently, it's not nimble enough to keep up with advances in technology. Says Rep. Conyers:
"As one of our most successful industries, it is important that we protect the content community from unfettered piracy. One aspect of that fight is making sure that digital media do not lose their content protection simply because of lapses in technology. This bill will help ensure that technology keeps pace with content delivery."
Ah, yes. The piracy bogeyman. In the same press release, Rep. Sensenbrenner points out that a "software pirate" in Alexandria, Virginia pled guilty to "making $20 million in sales of counterfeit intellectual property." However, the honorable representative from Wisconsin fails to understand that the software market relies on a completely different distribution model than does broadcasting, instead choosing to throw big numbers around in an attempt to make this misguided bill sound like it makes some small shred of sense for consumers.
Reading through the proposed text of the DTSCA, it is easy to see the hand of the MPAA at work. The proposed legislation defines four "Technical Content Protection Responses" that consumer devices will have based on the type of signal transmitted in a broadcast.
It doesn't take too much imagination to see where this is headed.
Once the MPAA and pals have their way, you're going to pay through the nose for even the most basic of Fair Use rights. You're going to pay for the right to rewind and "re-experience" content. The Copy Prohibited Content class, complete with its asinine insta-delete feature is nothing but a back door into attacking what the content industry hates most: your ability to timeshift content.
And this bill is ridiculously hard on timeshifting. Section 201 (b) (1) of the DTCSA gives you all of 90 minutes from the initial reception of a "unit of content" to watch your recordings. Heaven forbid you get a long phone call or an unscheduled visit from a neighbor when you're engaged in some delayed viewing—once that 90-minute window closes you're out of luck until the next broadcast.
Our Fair Use rights have been on the endangered list for the past several years, and the passage of this legislation would mark a habitat loss so severe that it would threaten the very survival of the species. No matter what the MPAA and RIAA tell us, it's not about piracy. It's about squeezing every last dollar out of our pockets if we want to do anything other than watch a live broadcast.
This is bad legislation for everyone except Hollywood and its lackeys. If you are represented by a member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, contact him or her and make your feelings known. Given what's at stake here, expressing your views to your congressional representative and senators is an excellent idea as well.
Tee-hee. You said analog hole.
The Broadcast Flag rears it's ugly head again.
These idiots never learn. They wanted to ban the VCR, and had to be dragged kicking and screaming into billions of dollars in profits from selling tapes. Now if they get their way here, they'll find that piracy will increase tremendously, because "legitimate" content will be crippled to the point of uselessness.
Don't be such an analoghole.
I love what Congress considers a priority.
It will interesting to see how such a law would affect the manufacturers of turntables, cartridges, and vinyl records. Would they be covered?
No. Bad movies and liberal agendas are the threat to the movie indunstry.
Upon consideration, I think it would be the manufacturers of phono preamps that are affected.
Not to worry, some teenager will soon figure out how to crack the protection codes.
Whenever I see things like this, I keep remembering the line from "Star Wars" where Leia told the General "The more you tighten you grip, the more will slip out of your grasp."
If record and movie studios put as much effort into producing stuff people would be compelled to buy at the prices they charge they'd be well ahead of the piracy curve.
iTunes does so well because the music and television shows are priced attractively for what you get.
Here we go again. And I don't have a congresscritter on this committee to set straight.
Now we just get to wait for Senator Fritz Hollings (D-Disney) to introduce it on the Senate side again.
Everything from ADSL to basic modem phoneline technology works by changing information packets back and forth from analog to digital.
Ouch.
This is how the erosion of liberty starts. You take an extreme case and make it illegal. Well if that extreme case is illegal then shouldn't something a little less extreme be illegal? And once that;s done then shouldn't you close up those remaining "loopholes?"
We are headed to a situation where libraries are going to be illegal and you are going to have to pay for music depending on how many people in your family listen to it.
Already some new computer games are lisenced for only one person. if a father and child wish to play the game on the same PC at different times they are supposed to buy two copies.
i can't believe they haven't went after pro musicians smoking weed. such music enhancing drugs must be cracked on and those who use it shouild be banned from music.(/sarcasm)
i really do hate congress sometimes, all of them.
Yippie! But I wonder who Disney bought to replace him.
It stuns me that supposedly conservative politicians are so eager to strip away our rights at Big Hollywood's biding. No doubt $$ (as always) is involved.
Get a clue GOP. The entertainment industry is an integral part of the leftist cultural revolution our domestic enemies are plotting to carry out. If our side had any brains, and a little integrity, we would be working to break Hollywood's power not granting them an unassailable stranglehold on all news and entertainment.
My wife is a singer/comedienne, and her demo master is on DVD. I wanted to do a little editing on it with my new computer, so I downloaded a test editing program and tried to import her demo. Discovered that I can't access my own computer's DVD drive, which would seem to be the most basic and obvious source for the video I want to edit. Hollywood and their paid-for lackeys in Congress have apparently made it illegal for me to use my own DVD drive as a video source for my own DVD editor because I might put one of their precious discs in and copy from it without sending them some more cash to spend on hookers and coke. The fact that the DVD I am using is my own, containing a demo video that I paid to produce and own the rights to, is immaterial.
On the contrary; it's critical.
Hollywood's REAL agenda is to prevent the development of technologies that allow anyone to do their own independent media production with a few thousand dollars' worth of equipment.
Holy Heck! I haven't thought of that in a long, LONG time! :-)
Unfortunately, there's way too many Freepers feeding at the Hollyweird trough, as evidenced by all the various music and movie threads, the eye rolling Tiger Beat type threads fawning over the Oscars and Emmy's, etc.
There's nobody to blame but us. If everyone would boycott TV and the video stores and Best Buy, etc, for just one day, the suits would be flinging themselves from the tops of their ivory towers. We have so much power and never use it, and the older I get the more convinced I am that "human intelligence" doesn't actually exist.
On this subject, Hatch deserves it. He was the one who thought the RIAA should be allowed to remotely destroy the computers of suspected copyright infringers.
Wow, do you have a link for that? Multiple computers I can see, but the same one is ridiculous.
Me: "Already some new computer games are lisenced for only one person. if a father and child wish to play the game on the same PC at different times they are supposed to buy two copies."
TD: "Wow, do you have a link for that? Multiple computers I can see, but the same one is ridiculous."
Sadly, I did a quick search and couldn't find the right search words to get the article. I remember it from either ZDNet or Slashdot. Another irritating restriction is the growing frquency of good computer games that can't be played without a pay subscription in addition to the $50 purchase price.
But not all A/D conversion has something to do with video.
Calling the ability to convert analog video content to a digital format a "significant technical weakness in content protection," H.R. 4569 would require all consumer electronics video devices manufactured more than 12 months after the DTCSA is passed to be able to detect and obey a "rights signaling system" that would be used to limit how content is viewed and used. That rights signaling system would consist of two DRM technologies, Video Encoded Invisible Light (VEIL) and Content Generation Management System—Analog (CGMS-A), which would be embedded in broadcasts and other analog video content.
How tragic it must be to go through life without the ability to comprehend what you read.
You realize 'video' so loosely defined could be anything from a movie on DVD to a online animation .gif picture file.
BTTT. This is outrageous, and goes far beyong the "broadcast flag". This is about preventing ALL recording. It's time to run someone against Sensenbrenner and point out specifically why.
Don't worry about it, Paul. The bill has defined analog video so it cannot possibly be mistaken for "[e]verything from ADSL to basic modem phoneline technology".
Yea right, this bill was crafted by MPAA/RIAA, I am sure it is designed to let the MPAA/RIAA sue anyone they want.
By the way, the RIAA is now going after sheet music. And they (RIAA) have sued people for P2P program downloading who DON'T EVEN OWN COMPUTERS...
This "Analog hole" legislation should be called "Make the Citizens Into Criminals Act", because that is what it would do.
I agree with that. Everyone, hang onto your old computers, DVD players, TV cards and sets, etc., for as long as possible.
Doubtful considering most electronics are made overseas, we will be buying imports online until they (RIAA/MPAA) use that as justification to shutdown the net.
Ofcourse I doubt this bill with make it through into law considering how much hatred the RIAA/MPAA/Hollywood has been giving the Republican party, especially President Bush.
It is rather disheartening isn't it?
Yeah, it is.
For many years I've railed against the Napster types, and what did being an honest man get me? Companies that are antagonistic to their loyal and law abiding customers don't deserve the sweat off our....
As of this moment, I'll never again say a word against file sharing.
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