Independent Perspective News

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- U.S. lawmakers are working on an effort that would render standard televisions and VCRs obsolete within five years by requiring broadcasters to switch to digital, copy-protected signals. A proposal released Thursday by Rep. Billy Tauzin, chairman of the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, would require broadcasters to transmit digital signals by the beginning of 2006, and require them to cease standard, analog broadcasts by the end of that year.

The new, high-definition signals could only be picked up by digital TVs and recording devices that included built-in anti-piracy features, according to the Louisiana Republican's draft bill.

Tauzin's proposal seeks to light a fire under broadcasters, consumer-electronics makers and media companies who have so far failed to reach agreement over how to switch to digital broadcasts as required by law.

In a statement, the Louisiana Republican said the lack of progress meant that government might have to step in.

"While we prefer marketplace solutions, clearly it's time for us to provide leadership in this area," Tauzin said.

A Tauzin spokesman said he was not sure when or if the proposal would be introduced as an actual bill. The committee has scheduled a hearing on the issue for next Wednesday.

The transition to digital broadcasts, originally scheduled to be complete by 2007, has stumbled recently in the face of industry bickering. Media companies have been reluctant to embrace the new medium, fearing that hot shows like "The Sopranos" could become subject to the Internet-based bootlegging that has plagued the music industry over the past several years.

Manufacturers of DVD players and other devices, meanwhile, worry that they would have to make machines so laden with restrictions that consumers would not buy them.

The two sides have struggled to reach agreement on a marker called a "broadcast flag," which would allow consumers to record broadcasts for personal use but prevent them from sharing shows over the Internet. Consumer groups have joined the debate as well, worrying that the flag would place onerous limits on how they could use their recordings.

FCC would set standards

Tauzin's draft would direct the Federal Communications Commission to break the standstill by setting the technical standards and requiring all digital TVs and other devices to recognize the broadcast flag. The draft would prevent analog VCRs from working with digital TVs made after July 2005, in an effort to prevent would-be pirates from stripping out the flag before converting it back to a digital file.

It would also require the new equipment to work seamlessly with cable-TV systems.

The FCC has already been prodding the two parties to hurry up the transition to digital, in part because they want to sell the airwaves the broadcasters currently use for analog transmissions.

The agency recently ordered TV manufacturers to begin selling sets as early as July 2004 that can receive over-the-air digital signals. By July 1, 2007, all televisions with 13-inch screens or bigger must have the tuners.

A consumer group blasted the proposal, saying it would hurt innovation and curtail the "fair use" rights of consumers to make limited copies of programming for personal use.

"This bill draft would give an unelected, unaccountable federal bureaucracy the authority to dictate the use of and regulate the devices in a consumer's family room," said Digitalconsumer.org in a statement. Cable-TV and consumer-electronics industry groups said they looked forward to working with Tauzin's committee on the proposal.

A spokeswoman for the Motion Picture Association of America said she could not comment on the proposal because it has not yet been formally introduced as a bill.