• November 4, 2003

The Federal Communications Commission Tuesday passed rules that would restrict the unlicensed distribution of digital TV programming over the Internet. The rule is an effort to head-off the kind of peer-to-peer downloading that has wreaked havoc on the music industry, though it is likely to be challenged legally, technologically and in the marketplace. By July 1, 2005, the FCC ruled that consumer electronics equipment capable of receiving digital TV signals must also be equipped with a so-called "broadcast flat" that would block unauthorized redistribution of copyrighted programming over the Internet. While the ruling does not impact VCRs and personal video recorders that are used by consumers to record and timeshift TV programming, the new rules are a direct result of a now defunct application developed by ReplayTV that would have enabled the recording and distribution of TV programming over the Internet.