Flag Waving in the Digital Jungle

TV FUTURES: DIGITAL TELEVISION POLICY IN AUSTRALIA, Andrew T. Kenyon, ed., Melbourne University Press, 2007

U of Melbourne Legal Studies Research Paper No. 301

21 Pages Posted: 9 Jan 2008

See all articles by David J. Brennan

David J. Brennan

University of Technology Sydney, Faculty of Law

Abstract

A broadcast flag is an electronic notice which is associated with a digital broadcast. Flags are not effective technological protection measures in the sense understood in copyright. As merely a piece of descriptive code embedded within a broadcast, flags do not per se lock, encrypt or scramble broadcasts prior to reception. Instead the code is merely a request that hardware receivers limit what can be done with the broadcast after reception. Regulatory mandate of hardware compliance with a flag request is the consequence of this light-handed nature. This chapter will: attempt to describe and explain flag technologies formulated in the US and Europe; contrast the quite unique Japanese solution which encrypts at the source of broadcast; consider the extent to which current Australian regulatory settings cater for flags; review the relevance of the draft WIPO Broadcasters' Treaty to flag technologies, and conclude by suggesting a legal framework for flags as a special type of electronic rights management information.

Keywords: broadcast, flag, digital

JEL Classification: K23

Suggested Citation

Brennan, David J., Flag Waving in the Digital Jungle. TV FUTURES: DIGITAL TELEVISION POLICY IN AUSTRALIA, Andrew T. Kenyon, ed., Melbourne University Press, 2007, U of Melbourne Legal Studies Research Paper No. 301, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1081730

David J. Brennan (Contact Author)

University of Technology Sydney, Faculty of Law ( email )

Sydney
Australia

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