These misguided requirements distort the marketplace by forcing industry to adopt agency-blessed solutions rather than allow innovative and competitive approaches to develop. We have seen this happen with the proposed video flag, and interest groups are pushing for an audio flag mandate as well. Whether well-intentioned or not, the FCC has no business interfering in private industry to satisfy select special interests or to impose its own views.
I have a new favorite Senator and his name is Sununu. Not only is he trying to lift federal restrictions on how electronics can be manufactured, but he's also going up against some lobbying from the TV and movie studios. They're the ones who succeeded in getting legislation passed requiring that broadcast flags be embedded in tv signals so that technology could be developed to restrict recording access. The catch of course is that the manufacturers of DVD recorders need to include flag detecting technology that would effectively limit their products ability to do its job. [link]
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