[IP] Open letter from CDT on broadcast flag
Begin forwarded message:
From: David McGuire <dmcguire@xxxxxxx>
Date: August 25, 2005 4:31:09 PM EDT
To: farber@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Open letter from CDT on broadcast flag
Hi David,
FYI. If you could post this on the IP list, that'd be great.
Thanks
Dave
August 25, 2005
Dear friends,
We've learned an important lesson this week: never elaborate on your
previously stated positions in August, when some reporters are trying
to make news. After we released our broadcast flag paper earlier this
week -- a paper that echoed CDT's longstanding position on how a
broadcast flag regime should be limited to protect innovation and
fair use -- at least two publications ran stories saying CDT had
reversed its stance and was now supporting broadcast flag legislation.
Let me be clear: CDT is not endorsing a federally mandated broadcast
flag regime. Our position has not changed.
CDT has always taken a pragmatic approach to the broadcast flag (as
we do with other issues). Rather than simply opposing the flag, CDT
has worked from the outset of the broadcast flag debate to support
policies that would limit the negative impact of any potential flag
regime on openness and innovation on the Internet. See, for example,
CDT's Feb 2004 Policy Post: http://www.cdt.org/publications/
policyposts/2004/4 , which reflects CDT's then -- and current --
position. When the Federal Communications Commission was developing
its flag rule, CDT submitted extensive recommendations on how to
design the flag so that it would be minimally disruptive both to
users and to technology developers. The FCC took some of our
recommendations and rejected others. In our view, the final product
contained inadequate protections for technologists and users. CDT is
preparing a document -- to be released in the next few weeks --
discussing the shortcomings of the FCC proceeding and the lessons to
be drawn. See also CDT's November 2003 Policy Post on the flag,
http://www.cdt.org/publications/pp_9.21.shtml, which reflects CDT's
then -- and current -- position.
Soon after a federal court overturned the FCC's rules, supporters of
a flag regime began pushing for flag legislation on Capitol Hill. We
do not know when, if ever, flag legislation will come up in Congress,
but we do know from extensive experience that legislation can move
very quickly, particularly near the end of a congressional session.
If we refrained from commenting until after we saw bill language, it
could well be too late to educate lawmakers and their staff on the
issues at stake.
So, CDT issued a document this week that we hope lawmakers will draw
on IF they choose to draft broadcast flag legislation. We call for
important limitations on the flag rules and on the power of the FCC
to restrict technology. Although it is still vital to ask whether it
is worthwhile to have any flag regime at all, we believe that a flag
regime that includes our guidance would be far less damaging than one
that gives the FCC undefined authority. The recommendations
summarized in the paper we released this week are drawn from our
December 2003 report "Implications of the Broadcast Flag: A Public
Interest Primer (Version 2.0)" http://www.cdt.org/copyright/
broadcastflag.pdf, which (you guessed it) reflects CDT's then -- and
current -- position.
With the benefit of hindsight, we could have made our position on the
flag clearer in our flag document. In the next couple days we'll edit
the preamble to state more explicitly that the paper SHOULD NOT be
taken as an endorsement of broadcast flag legislation.
Finally, a note on CDT's funding. Some people love to impugn CDT, an
Internet organization, for taking money from the companies that are
shaping the Internet. All of our funding is public information. In
fact, CDT probably posts more details about its funding than many
other public interest organizations. Recently, in the process of
updating our Web site, we de-linked a page listing our supporters,
while we redesigned it to match the new look of our site and updated
it to reflect 2004 data. Contrary to reports, the page was never
removed from the site. It remains located at http://www.cdt.org/
mission/2003supporters.shtml . By next month, CDT will post the
redesigned and updated funding page. In the meantime we will re-link
to this older information. One of the articles inferred that
surreptitious funding from Hollywood is driving our copyright stance.
What's particularly ironic about that suggestion is that companies
like Vivendi, Sony and Disney have actually pulled their support for
CDT in recent years -- in large part because they disagree with our
stance on copyright.
The polarized debate over copyright protection in the Internet age
implicates some of the greatest threats to Internet development
today. CDT believes in protection of copyrighted material online and
offline. We are committed to seeking solutions to problems
associated with copyright protection and believe deeply that those
solutions will be found somewhere between the black and white
positions at either end of the spectrum. Our documents and public
statements will continue to reflect that position, which is based on
our commitment to preserving the free and open Internet as a tool for
democracy and communication. That position was spelled out in our
June 2005 paper, Protecting Copyright and Internet Values, is
available at http://www.cdt.org/copyright/20050607framing.pdf
Sincerely,
David Sohn
Staff Counsel
The Center for Democracy & Technology
Contact: David McGuire (202) 637-9800
--
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David McGuire
Director of Communications
Center for Democracy & Technology
(202) 637 9800 x106
(202) 423 7432 (mob)
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