Today, a federal appeals court quashed the FCC's plans to enforce their "broadcast flag" regulation on July 1. More from CNET's story:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled Friday that the Federal Communications Commission did not have the authority to prohibit the manufacture of computer and video hardware without copy protection technology known as the "broadcast flag." The FCC's regulations, which it created in November 2003, had been intended to limit unauthorized Internet redistribution of TV broadcasts....
Under the FCC rules, starting in July digital TV tuners manufactured would have had to include copy-protection technology--called the broadcast flag--that's backed by the Motion Picture Association of America. The broadcast flag limits the TV recipient's ability to redistribute video clips made from the recorded over-the-air broadcasts.
Barring a reversal on appeal, this fight will likely move to Congress soon. More background on the broadcast flag rule is here.
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