The FCC has approved the controversial Broadcast Flag, ignoring thousands and thousands of protest letters. This is a profoundly bad idea; it puts technological innovation in the hands of the content providers, and strikes another blow against the whole idea of Fair Use (a copyright doctrine the RIAA, MPAA and Broadcasters would dearly love to destroy). It also creates a huge class of “legacy” equipment: for example, a DVD recorder purchased next summer (if the rule stands) won’t be able to create DVDs that will play on your current player.

Coverage:

• BoingBoing
• At the Electronic Frontier Foundation
• Via PC World

Fortunately, a legal challenge is already in the works. Keep your fingers crossed, folks.