[U.S.]Will the Broadcast Flag Break Your TiVo? - The FCC ruling explained.

This article covers the proposed future broadcasting of Digital/HDTV

in the U.S. then answers these FAQs:

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Will the broadcast flag break my TiVo?

What about the new high-definition digital recorders? Will they allow me to
time-shift shows, skip commercials, or pause live broadcasts?

Will I be able to trade high-definition episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond
with other people?

Is it true the new video recorders won't be compatible with my existing DVD
player?

I get my television via cable or satellite. Does the broadcast flag apply to
me?

Is there any TV gear I should stock up on before it's illegal?

Where can I read the details of the broadcast-flag ruling online?

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Television fans accustomed to recording shows and watching them later are
still trying to make sense of the Federal Communications Commission's Nov. 4
ruling, which says digital TV sets built after July 2005 will need to
include an anti-piracy system called a broadcast flag, meant to keep
high-definition digital broadcasts from instantly becoming Internet
bootlegs. Broadcast-flag technology works like this: Digital TV signals that
are broadcast over the air, rather than transmitted via cable or satellite,
will include an invisible data tag-the broadcast flag-along with the picture
and sound. By FCC fiat, any digital TV tuner built after July 1, 2005, must
refuse to allow broadcast-flagged programs to be recorded in such a way that
they can be redistributed in their high-definition format. You'll be able to
record Letterman tonight and watch him tomorrow but you won't be able to
e-mail a copy to your friends.........



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Details:

http://slate.msn.com/id/2091723/
More news:
http://www.auspaytv.com.au/forums/ipdl.php

***

On cable TV they have a weather channel - 24 hours of weather. We had
something like that where I grew up. We called it a window.
-- Dan Spencer

[andw]

That's totally silly. I'll bet that by July 2004 a full year before it comes into force, someone will have hacked it, and it will be totally bypassed before it even comes out.