Tech Mandates – Broadcast Flag and Audio Flag
Section 1201 of the copyright statute does not require copyright owners to use TPMs to protect their content. It also does not require devices to support the TPMs used by content owners. In the case of most DRM, such as Apple’s “Fairplay” or the DVD Copy Control Association’s CSS, copyright owners and device makers negotiated privately to create devices that responded to DRM. Despite this fact, content industries, represented by groups like the RIAA and the MPAA, have pushed for administrative rules and legislation that would mandate that devices respond to TPMs.
Additional Resources
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http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap12.html
Text of the DRM provisions of the Copyright Statute, available at
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http://www.eff.org/wp/unintended-consequences-seven-years-under-dmca
“Unintended Consequences: Seven Years under the DMCA”, an EFF Whitepaper, available at:
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http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/1244
“Six Steps to Digital Copyright Sanity: Reforming a Pre-VCR Law for a YouTube World”, a presentation outlining Public Knowledge’s proposals for copyright reform, available at
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http://www.publicknowledge.org/pdf/citizens_guide_to_drm.pdf
“What Every Citizen Should Know About DRM”, by Mike Godwin, available at
