CEA Not Sure About Backing Bill on Broadcast Flag, Shapiro Says
CEA “has yet to develop a position” on legislation the MPAA is expected to support that would give the FCC the broadcast flag authority that the U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., decided the agency lacks (CD May 9 p3), Pres. Gary Shapiro told our affiliate Consumer Electronics Daily.
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Philips and Thomson said immediately after the ruling they would support an MPAA bill if narrowly drafted. But Shapiro said CEA “is a large organization with 2,000 companies and some of our members vocally supported the broadcast flag rule at the FCC,” while others opposed it or remained silent. “It remains to be seen” how many will support or oppose a broadcast flag bill in Congress, Shapiro said.
Public Knowledge Pres. Gigi Sohn said she sent Shapiro an e-mail urging CEA to join her group in opposing a bill or at least to remain neutral. Shapiro wouldn’t tell us how he replied. “I consider my response to Gigi confidential,” he said. “Gigi Sohn and Public Knowledge are terrific. They have been allies on many issues and I would always prefer they be with us.”
On Sohn’s concern that broadcast flag might be attached to a DTV transition bill, weighing it down, Shapiro said: “The only DTV bill I think is important is a hard cutoff date. If that gets weighted down, it would not be good as the most important thing Congress can do in this area, which is set a hard cutoff date.” Shapiro said House Commerce Committee Chmn. Barton (R-Tex.) “is the one who’s leading this charge and we will support him any way we can.”
Michael Petricone, CEA vp-technology policy, said his group hasn’t seen any MPAA legislative proposal, so “it’s theoretical at this point” whether CEA would side with Philips and Thomson and support such a bill. “To the extent any legislation is introduced,” Petricone said, CEA agrees with Thomson that “it should be narrowly drawn to address the DTV broadcast flag,” and shouldn’t be made a “Christmas tree bill,” addressing digital radio or other copy protection issues. CEA was neutral on the broadcast flag issue while it was before the FCC, he noted.
Broadcast flag “will be a very controversial issue” if it’s brought to Capitol Hill, so “adding it to the DTV bill would certainly make the bill’s path more difficult,” Petricone said. He said he and CEA weren’t privy to Barton’s thinking on the broadcast flag, “but up to now he has said he wants a clean DTV bill addressing only the cutoff date and a tuner subsidy.”