Broadcast Flag Struck Down!
I awoke this morning and confirmed with FedEx and UPS that the last of my components for my broadcast-flag-busting MythTV PVR would arrive today. Then I learned that the American Library Association, EFF, and Public Knowledge had won their court case challenging the FCC’s authority to issue technology mandates such as the broadcast flag! Here’s the unanimous 3-0 34-page opinion (pdf) from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court wrote, “we hold that the Commission acted outside the scope of its delegated authority when it adopted the disputed broadcast flag regulations.” at p. 4. For the challenge to succeed, the court had to find that someone challenging the flag stood to suffer actual harm. The court wrote, “faculty members make broadcast clips available to students in distance education courses via the Internet, but there is a substantial probability that the Libraries will be unable to do this if the Flag Order takes effect. It is also beyond dispute that, if this court vacates the Flag Order, the Libraries will be able to continue to assist faculty members lawfully redistribute broadcast clips to their students.” at p. 14. This is a great victory. Brace yourselves for the MPAA to go to Congress to ask them to either give the FCC the authority this court held they lacked or to enact a flag directly. You’ll probably want to donate to EFF and Public Knowledge. Don’t forget to hug a librarian today.
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