Flag Waving in the Digital Jungle
TV FUTURES: DIGITAL TELEVISION POLICY IN AUSTRALIA, Andrew T. Kenyon, ed., Melbourne University Press, 2007
21 Pages Posted: 9 Jan 2008
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: Suggested Citation