Bravo EFF - Broadcast Flag Court Victory

The Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) in association with consumer and library organisations have a won a ‘landmark’ case in US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit against the Broadcast Flag and against the US FCC.

The court has the opinion that the FCC has overstepped it’s authority in it’s attempts to impose the Broadcast Flag and associated control over the HD platform in the US.

The principal question presented by this case is whether Congress delegated authority to the Federal Communications Commission (“Commission” or “FCC”) in the Communications Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C. § 151 et seq. (2000) (“Communications Act” or “Act”), to regulate apparatus that can receive television broadcasts when those apparatus are not engaged in the process of receiving a broadcast transmission. In the seven decades of its existence, the FCC has never before asserted such sweeping authority. Indeed, in the past, the FCC has informed Congress that it lacked any such authority. In our view, nothing has changed to give the FCC the authority that it now claims.”

- Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge Edwards.

Full decision of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit: http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/docs/common/opinions/200505/04-1037b.pdf

EFF’s Broadcast Flag activities: http://www.eff.org/broadcastflag/

EFF’s PR: http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2005_05.php#003556

DONATE or JOIN the EFF to keep this up!: https://secure.eff.org/