Television Archiving

About as wrong as it is possible to be about intellectual property.

There is a tendency to dismiss those who argue against DRM as naive purists (or communists), but Cory Doctorow’s recent post, Google Video DRM: Why is Hollywood more important than users? argues cogently against Google’s approach to video: Google’s DRM has the potential to drastically re-shape the contours of copyright law, turning a few entertainment […]

This has been in my queue for a couple of days. The broadcast flag threatens to make archiving digital television very difficult, if not impossible. The EFF is asking for people to write to congress about this. ======== Stopping the Signal: Broadcast Flag Update #2 October 10, 2005 Not long ago we updated you on […]

James Boyle had a great piece in the Financial Times about the webcast treaty, which will give archivists another layer of rights to contend with as they attempt to preserve and make accessible what is shown on television, whether it is via traditional broadcast networks or the Internet.

The beating by police of a 64-year old former schoolteacher has been all over the net recently, along with stories of intimidation of the AP camera crew. This event would never have “happened” if it weren’t caught on tape, and while the focus is now properly on New Orleans officials, it’s good to see the […]

Reporters Without Borders is reporting some bad news: Reporter Tim Harper and photographer Lucas Oleniuk of the Canadian Toronto Star daily were the victims of police violence while covering a clash between police and looters. The police threatened them several times at gunpoint and, when they realised Oleniuk had photographed them hitting looters, they hurled […]

J.D. Lasica, author of Darknet, Hollywood’s War Against the Digital Generation, has a page up documenting requests to and refusals from studios for the use of clips in a home movie project.

The London Times reports that the EU may begin regulation of Internet-based television services as part of a rewrite Television Without Frontiers, the 1989 European directive regarding television regulation. The Times notes “Today, television delivered via the internet is unregulated in Britain. There is, therefore, nobody with legal power to force an internet broadcaster to […]

The EFF cites a Communications Daily story that the MPAA may not ask for a Broadcast Flag provision in the digital television legislation now pending in the House. The story also cites a Congressional Research Service report that “raises concerns that the broadcast flag’s technological limitations could hinder activities normally deemed ‘fair use’ under copyright […]

I’m a little late pointing this editorial by the MPAA’s CEO Dan Glickman, which concludes “In the end, it will be the consumers who suffer the most if the broadcast flag is not mandated for the digital era.” But consumers aren’t asking for the broadcast flag. Neither are independent video producers, librarians, or archivists. Glickman […]

The Senate Commerce Committee hearing on S. 967 and pre-packaged news makes for interesting viewing. If you fast forward to 1:12:50, there is a discussion led by Senator Kerry with Commissioner Adelstein of the FCC about the possibility of creating a VNR archive — they seem to like the idea. Senator Kerry: Last question is […]

Last week’s court ruling against the broadcast flag is great news for archivists, librarians, the public, and technology companies. The fight against DRM on the public airwaves isn’t over though. Broadcasters will be pursuing legislative solutions — it is always easier and cheaper to buy congressional support than to change monopolistic business models — and […]

No, it’s not an oxymoron. Last week, Senators Kerry and Lautenberg introduced the Truth in Broadcasting Act, which is intended to “to protect the American people from covert propaganda produced by the government.” Written in response to the video news releases produced by PR firms for the Bush administration, the bill would require all broadcasts […]

Amazing: sponsorship rules are getting re-examined and the FCC is warning broadcasters to identify the source of video news releases. Of course, the counterpart to this action should be an examination not only of broadcasters’ practices, but also of the government practices which the GAO called illegal.

The NYT has a new article out, Under Bush, a New Age of Prepackaged TV News, which opens: It is the kind of TV news coverage every president covets. “Thank you, Bush. Thank you, U.S.A.,” a jubilant Iraqi-American told a camera crew in Kansas City for a segment about reaction to the fall of Baghdad. […]

Seventeen computer scientists have filed a brief in the MGM v. Grokster case, arguing that P2P technology should not be legally restricted. “Because Petitioners seek a remedy that will hobble advances in technology, while they have other means to obtain relief for infringement, amici ask the Court to affirm the judgment below.”

The EFF and Public Knowledge have set up a web site, orphanworks.org, to encourage people to file comments about the handling and legal status of orphan works. Comments are due March 25. From the Orphan Works site: When you can’t find copyright holders, copyright becomes a quagmire. Let’s fix it. For designers, academics, artists, musicians, […]