This has discussion continued in a modest way on the blog comments.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2009/10/freeview_hd_copy_protection_a.html
I am sorry to say Nick is making misleading reassurances.
(He is not sufficiently technical or familiar with the material, to
understand the logical inconsistencies - this is an observation of fact,
not a personal attack).
See Nick comment No. 34.
"Yes you will be able to put a HD tuner into my Open Source MythTV box
and watch BBC HD, again if suitable tuners become available."
The only reason tuners would not become available (they are currently
available for Standard Definition), is that they will be excluded by the
licence required to decrypt the signals.
Free and Open Source Software Drivers will be excluded (excluding Myth
TV) if there is any meaningful copy protection (unless the licence is
breached).
If the copy protection is to be meaningful, the BBC must break the law,
regarding an unencrypted signal (semantics aside) and exclude FOSS from
accessing the copy protected signals (which may only apply to Hollywood
films, US imports, or may apply to the majority of content).
See Nevali's comments, No. 35, 36, 42.
Clearly Nevali, is part of the official consultation process.
Issues:
1.1 Free and Open Source software is incompatible with DRM.
1.2 Reassurances to the contrary, contradict this knowledge. And
undermine statements from the BBC.
2.1 What the BBC is proposing is in breach of the law by any reasonable
semantics, the law is clear and does not allow for exceptions.
2.2 You may wish to proceed as if this was not true, but it is a fatal
flaw that will destroy the agreements the BBC is entering into, and
damage the BBC.
2.3 The BBC TRUST cannot ignore the fact that the BBC is intending to
breaking the law. Semantics will not be sufficient to obfuscate this issue.
2.4 Several other options exist to exploit the flaw in the BBC's
intentions. I am aware how it is possible to subvert the law, but
ultimately the letter of the law, will be used to force the BBC to
broadcast unencrypted.
3.1 We are in a transition phase, away from copyright and DRM.
3.2. The BBC appear to be insufficiently aware of the arguments against
DRM and, dangers of the course of action they have embarked upon, to act
in the public intrest
3.3 The BBC are not familiar with the argument against DRM which has
failed repeatedly.
3.4. The BBC are not sufficiently aware of the arguments against
intellectual property which has already lost the intellectual debate.
4.0 Free and Open Source software proponents have experience of a
copyright, patent, and DRM free environment, and are therefore more
ready to embrace the concepts, and freedoms involved.
In view of the above, how can the BBC management claim to represent the
public interest ?
The BBC can choose to ignore the above, but the issues will not go away.
And the BBC will be seen to be, not side of the public, but on the side
of special interests on these issues.
This is intention of this email to raise issues with the BBC Management
of which Nick is one of the current spokesmen.
Further Reading:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/speeches/stories/thompson_bpi.shtml
"But that's changing. The first episode of the new Dr Who series was
available on the unauthorised site Bit Torrent three weeks before its
premiere on BBC ONE.
And, although of course our main model in the UK is free-to-air
unencrypted broadcast, the BBC has a duty to exploit the residual
commercial value of the rights we invest in on behalf of the public: we
do that both here and around the world.
So we have an intense interest in effective digital rights management
systems; in technical, legal and regulatory means to protect the
property of rights-holders; and in increasing public awareness of the
moral and economic consequences of the theft of intellectual property.
On this last point, I believe the BBC could do considerably more than it
does at present."
Mark Thompson, BBC Director-General Thursday 14 July 2005
Some background on semantics in law.
http://ssrn.com/abstract=831604
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=831604
"We consider in the paper whether a pragmatics of semantic content can
be a useful approach to legal interpretation. More extensively, since a
pragmatic conception of meaning is a component of an inferential
semantics, we consider whether an inferentialist approach to legal
interpretation can be of help in treating and resolving some problems of
legal interpretation. In sum: Is legal inferentialism a suitable
conception of legal interpretation?"
Some of the Anti-copyright argument.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/web/la-oew-healey18feb18,0,7696645.story
"In "The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism", the economist and
Nobel Prize winner F.A. Hayek explains the difference between
conventional property rights and copyright. While the supply of material
resources is limited by nature, the supply of an immaterial good [is]
unlimited, unless the government limits the supply by law?. A later
Nobel Prize winner, Milton Friedman, describes copyright as a monopoly
that decreases supply to a level below the optimal level. Copyright and
the regulations that follow from it should, according to Friedman, be
described primarily as a limitation of free speech.
In essence, Sigfrid is saying that something in unlimited supply can't
be stolen."
[...]
"These aren't just academic arguments. They're ammunition in a battle
that's raging online to shape the way the public thinks about
copyrights. The first salvo was fired by the original Napster, which
defined itself as a file-sharing network. That won the semantic high
ground by defining unauthorized downloading as "sharing," not "copying"
or "duplicating." The implication was that users of these networks were
merely being generous with something they possessed, not usurping the
rights of copyright holders."
The arguments about theft of service in the article are also wrong, as
theft of service is just an extension of property rights.
The BBC wishes to limit supply by encryption, and therefore restrict
free speech, and support private monopolies.
Must Read:
A more complete argument against copyright can be found in the book:
http://www.dklevine.com/general/intellectual/againstfinal.htm
which available as a pdf from the web site.
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