"It will simply prevent consumers from illegal piracy, from mass distribution over the Internet, which is the problem with the music file sharing," Kenneth Ferree, head of the FCC's media bureau, said in a telephone interview.
The FCC is acting as a mouthpiece for the half-dozen or so companies that control most of what you see, hear, or read.
The broadcast flag won't "simply" do anything. In order for this scheme to work, every computer manufacturer, consumer electronics company, software developer, cable company, ISP, network hardwaer vendor, etc will have to get run their designs past Jack Valenti, Rupert Murdoch, and Mike Eisner. Only companies that support Big Content's business model of end-to-end control, perpetual copyrights, and vigilante justice will be allowed to play in this Brave New World.
The broadcast flag won't "prevent" mass distribution, either, any more than car alarms prevent automobile theft. Big Content has been looking for a way to keep their wares under lock-and-key, but they refuse to acknowledge the one constant truth of security: nothing is unbreakable. Even the sturdiest door can only slow down a determined intruder. Suggesting that we cede control over huge swathes of the technology business to the movie merchants in a futile effort to preserve their creaky business model is insane.
The "problem" with music file sharing isn't the simple fact that it can be done. The problem is that, for years, consumers have demanded a simple, inexpensive, convenient way to own the songs they want in digital form. The music industry responded with nothing; they stuck with $18 CDs that surrounded the one or two songs you wanted with ten you didn't. In the meantime, the movie business (!) and game companies were cramming hours and hours of extra goodies into their similarly-priced products. Piracy is bad for the music business, but the Internet routes around damage, and the music industry's business model is definitely damage.
Of course, it's not Reuters' role to be quite this opinionated, but not a single critical question is applied to the line the FCC spouts.
