Senator John Sununu (R-NH) is working on legislation that makes it explicit that the FCC can't make a Broadcast Flag rule. The rule (which the FCC tried and lost in a court battle over jurisdiction) says that tech companies need permission to make devices that can record, store or copy digital TV shows, and prohibits the use of open source for video technology.
Sununu's bill will attempt to rein in the FCC and prevent it from reviving the broadcast flag without Congressional authorization to do so. "The FCC seems to be under the belief that it should occasionally impose technology mandates," Sununu said in a statement. "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."
(Thanks, Glyn!)
