Decius wrote:
] Oh, its ok, the BBC will put all their television online, and
] everyone will watch it instead. :)

Exactly. On several fronts we are going to be seeing a shootout between these very rigid IP rules for distribution of content vs. very liberal rules.. I think the liberal approach will win in the long run, but we are going to be dealing with the rigid approach for the foreseeable future.

Rant.

There are a number of TV shows that I would _never_ watch if I did not have the ability to record/time-shift them.. This crap is going to cause problems with that technology by virtue of the fact that the same technology can also enable copying with very little modification. Its pretty much proven that you can't keep people from tinkering with consumer hardware to make it do what they want.. Tivo, XBox, etc.. There will be more examples. There will be "Hack your TV" t-shirts..

We already know people who are hacking together software HDTV decoders.. Who is this rule going to stop? Not people with skills.. Not people who want to "steal" the data. Its going to stop end consumers from getting products that do what they want, and thats all. Its going to oppress my Mom, and piss me off. Thats it.

I think the term "digital divide" is going to be re-defined if all these communication technologies keep turning restrictive one after another. Its not going to have anything to do with wealth, its going to be about the technical skills that determines who is a have and a have-not. Its about punk rock ethics coming of age because of the PC and the Internet. Viva the self-taught engineer who hates the man and cherishes freedom.

RE: FCC Approves Internet Anti-Piracy Tool