http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4523597.stm

read on. the FCC got a nice big slap in the face. about time the US justice system does it's job right.

This is the part of the decision I absolutely love:


It is about time the FCC got put back in its place.

Ya, these so called supporters are the scum in hollywood and the RIAA/MPAA............it's about time these morons got put in their place!

That's great news because it isn't likely that after such a decision has been ruled in america that anybody'll try to bring anything of the sort to the table in Europe.

And there was much rejoicing...

Thank goodness! Now if we can just get this 'software patent' nonsense out of the way, I'll be able to sleep soundly again.

I'll thank them to keep their management off of my digital rights!

anyways, what is wrong with making a copy of a public broadcast? there is no law that states making a VCR or digital recording of a program is not legal as long as you do not rebroadcast for PROFFIT.

i think this is awsome and about time the FCC got its slap in the face, now just to hit the other hollywood idiots with the same kind of slap in the face.

Actually I don't think that you have this bit quite right. If I remember correctly, copyright law allows a user to make a copy for personal use. The profit, or lack thereof, doesn't enter the picture. In other words, I agree that a user can make a recording of a program. However, the user can't distribute that copy, whether for free or fee, to anyone else. And that right to make a copy for personal use is what the morons at RIAA and MPAA are attacking. They are trying to make it illegal to make a copy of anything for any reason, and that is NOT what copyright law says.

true as that is for media like music and DVDs, but for TV the only time i have seen a notice to prevent distribution is on NFL games. No other publicly broadcast or even cable/satalite broadcast that i have seen (not including pay for channles like HBO etc.) have no such notice and are freely distributed.

so what is wrong with making a copy of a TV show you like to watch and letting a friend who might just be like yourself who can not watch it at its time slot but can watch it at their time due to work or family?

i can 100% understand tapes, CDs, and DVDs not being free to distribute, but a TV show?

baseball games have the same warnings as football games both on tv and radio

Keep in mind that this recent court victory only really says that the FCC doesn't have the authority to regulate hardware manufacturers. I'm sure they're already moving to take this to congress and have them specifically grant the FCC that authority. With the weight that the RIAA/MPAA has been throwing around recently, I wouldn't be surprised if they get it.

//I'm still buying a non-broadcast flag tuner card before July 1.

I don't think the law is different for a TV show from a tape, CD or DVD. What you're talking about (sharing a recorded show with a friend) is probably one of those things that is technically illegal, but so small scale that nobody is going to get bent out of shape about it. What has the media yahoos all in a tizzy is you recording a TV show and then posting it on your web site for your friend and a few hundred others to download and watch. THAT is what the nonsense around the broadcast flag is about. Since they can't figure out a way for a viewer to make a personal use copy and not have that copy available for lots and lots of other people, they decided that the best approach was to take away a viewers rights to that personal copy.

I liked this quote:

"It says the FCC can't regulate everything under the sun, and in particular, that Hollywood can't use the agency to regulate how the public can watch and record television.

Instead, it leaves our digital television choices with the market, where they belong. The court also recognised the library and educational uses that would be harmed by the flag's restrictions."

well either way i am just glad they got such a huge slap in the face. also who cares about baseball *grins* /poke /poke /poke

i have not watched a baseball game since the season after the second strike when the players refused to take to the field due ot gnats. sorry, you are making $100,000,000 contracts get your a$$ on the field and earn it.

And speaking of Nats......Those of us in the DC area couldn't record them off the tube even if we wanted to since the TV rights to Nationals baseball games are owned by the Baltimore Orioles and they don't really allow the Nats to be shown........Oh, well, that is a rant for another day. Maybe we'll get lucky and the WWF will televise FCC court hearings. Now THAT would be entertaining!

AlexV wrote
The RIAA has a DMCA lawsuit to make computer shift keys illegal. How many prisons will they have to build if they when that lawsuit.

Their greed has gotten so ubsurd that I think they need to be "spanked". It's about time we reset the clock on copyright law and go back to something like 20 years or so instead of 120 years. (Every 20 years, Congress extends it another 20 years.)