Sununu on FCC Flag Raising

January 9, 2007

Occasionally you see politicians slap the wrists of the FCC in public. Today is one of those occasions as U.S. Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) pledged Monday to introduce legislation to prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from imposing either broadcast or audio flags on electronics makers.

Major content providers, such as Hollywood studios and music publishers, heavily endorse the technology as a way to prevent consumers from making unauthorized copies of digital movies and music. Flags are embedded code in broadcast or audio streams that block further retransmission.

"Whether well-intentioned or not, the FCC has no business interfering in private industry to satisfy select special interests or to impose its own views," Sununu said in a statement. "My legislation will ensure that decisions about the design and development of products and services to meet FCC rules are made by technology experts, not government regulators."

I wonder if we will see the government providing more boundaries or limits for what the FCC should or shouldn’t do. For more on this matter check out Sununu Wants to Squelch FCC Flag Raising.