Call for Civil Disobedience over the Broadcast Flag: Take back the Spectrum

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
Date: Sat, 08 Nov 2003 22:33:15 -0800
From: "Robert J. Berger" <rberger () ibd com>
Subject: Call for Civil Disobedience over the Broadcast Flag: Take back the
 Spectrum
To: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>, Dave Farber <dave () farber net>

An Open Letter to Jack Valenti
http://arnoldkling.com/~arnoldsk/aimst5/valenti.html

by Arnold Kling
³The FCC scored a big victory for consumers and the preservation of high
value over-the-air free broadcasting with its decision on the Broadcast
Flag. This puts digital TV on the same level playing field as cable and
satellite delivery. All the way around, the consumer wins, and free TV stays
alive.²
--Jack Valenti, Motion Picture Association of America

Dear Mr. Valenti,

I am a consumer, and I did not win when the FCC voted 5-0 to require
personal computers and other devices that might store video files to comply
with a technical specification designed to protect copyright of
high-definition television (HDTV). In this letter, I am going to do two
things. First, I am going to explain why I am mad. Then, I am going to
explain how I plan to get even.

The High Cost of Free TV

I am one of the small minority of Americans that still gets free TV. I do
not subscribe to cable or satellite TV. Accordingly, I am one of the "human
shields" that you and other lobbyists are using to justify imposing a
hardware tax on the entire nation.

I should hasten to add that I make no claim to be a cable-TV "have-not."
Instead, I am a cable-TV "do-not." My wife and I have determined that there
is nothing on cable TV that is so compelling that it justifies a
subscription. Cost is not the issue. For our family's sake, we prefer notto
have cable TV.

The Broadcast Flag technology is supposed to benefit me, by encouraging
broadasters to send HDTV signals over "free" TV. I am as excited about this
as I am about Cable TV, which is to say--not at all. I have no desire to
encourage broadcasters to send HDTV signals. I do not think that my fellow
cable TV have-nots and do-nots care about this issue, either. I'll bet that
not one of us has ever written to our Congressperson expressing our need to
watch HDTV sent over the airwaves.

Please note that it is inaccurate to refer to broadcast HDTV as "free TV,"
particularly in the wake of the broadcast flag regulation. In fact, HDTV is
going to be very expensive for the economy as a whole, as millions of
devices will now have to be made to conform to the Broadcast Flag standard.
Furthermore, I predict that individuals will spend time and resources trying
to "hack" the Broadcast Flag, which will lead to modifications of the
technology, which will layer on more costs to the economy.

In short, you are claiming to represent consumers like me when you do not.
You are claiming to preserve "free" TV when in fact you are increasing the
cost to consumers--not just those of us who still view broadcast television,
but also the vast majority of consumers who subscribe to pay-TV services as
well as consumers who might not use television at all but wish to buy
computers or other devices with electronic file-storage capability.

Getting Even

I have no plans to try to try to hack the broadcast flag. I do not care
enough about your precious content to watch it, much less copy it. I will
get back at you another way.

Another subsidy that "free TV" enjoys is the allocation of spectrum. I
hereby declare that subsidy null and void. I am announcing the Jack Valenti
Spectrum Re-allocation. As of November 4, 2003, the spectrum that was
allocated for HDTV is now allocated for spread-spectrum wireless.

I will not buy any device for the purpose of receiving HDTV. Instead, I will
gladly purchase devices that will route packets via the Internet Protocol
over that spectrum. In the neighborhood of my house, IP packets will take
precedence over HDTV signals.

I recommend that other consumers adopt the Jack Valenti Spectrum
Re-allocation. I am talking about massive civil disobedience of the FCC.
Remember, anyone who receives television over cable or satellite will give
up nothing by assigning higher priority to IP packets. For anyone who misses
broadcast television, it would be better to give them taxpayer dollars to
subscribe to satellite TV than for consumers to pay the Broadcast Flag
hardware tax.

By re-allocating spectrum from HDTV to wireless IP, we can kill two legacy
birds with one stone. We can hasten the demise of the phone
companies--because with a wireless "last mile" the wireless Internet can
replace traditional land lines and cell phones; and we can show Jack
Valenti, the movie industry, and the television industry what it really
means to "score a big victory for consumers."
To comment on this essay, go to the thread at Broadcast Flag This
http://www.corante.com/bottomline/archives/000589.html

----
Arnold Kling has a Ph.D. in economics from MIT; foundedhomefair.com, one of
the very first commercial websites, in 1994; separated from Homefair in
January 2000 after it was sold toHomestore; is author of Under the Radar:
Starting Your Internet Business without Venture Capital, and is an essayist.
Please send any comments, as well as suggestions for what we might point to
from this page, to us atecon () corante com


--
Robert J. Berger - Internet Bandwidth Development, LLC.
Voice: 408-882-4755 eFax: +1-408-490-2868
http://www.ibd.com

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