Audio Flag

The audio flag is the broadcast flag’s radio equivalent. In March 2006, Rep. Mike Ferguson introduced the “Audio Broadcast Flag Licensing Act of 2006”. This bill went a step further than the FCC’s broadcast flag rules. The bill would have prevented not only the digital distribution of content but also “unauthorized recording”. If this bill had passed, consumers would not be able to hit the record button while listening to broadcast music and would not be able to listen to recorded songs in the order of their choice. In many ways, an audio flag regime would have posed the same dangers to consumers that a broadcast flag regime would have.