Brian Butterworth wrote:
Dave,
I've gone back and looked at the original letter again.
There are two proposals. The BBC is saying that it will use Huffman
encoding to broadcast the SI tables. This is not a bad idea really,
given that it could extend the EPG, for example.
The BBC is saying that the table used for this Huffman encoding be
"licensed". The problem they have is that it is supposed to be
generated from data that is already broadcast, so it should be
reasonable easy to recreate this data. You can't claim rights on
something that's just a published mathematical function on
some specified public data.
This is hardly 'copy restriction', it is simply a small data table that
a bit of computing power can reproduce. It's not like the data being
decoded from the SI isn't going to be in a known format!
It's a bit like using a broken condom.
And then the second proposal is for an unspecified scrambling system
termed in such terms that it so clear that the answer should be "no".
The DCMA makes it illegal to break even the most trivial encryption, and
this is what this is, a legal trip wire, in order to receive even free
to air, unencrypted signals, you will require a license with hundreds of
clauses, and unilaterally imposed. Reverse engineering the encryption
(even if trivial) will be illegal.
It gives the DTVA absolute control over the consumer electronics
industry and therefore the public.
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