"broadcast flag"

Hello Fellow Oregonians

Just to let you know...I have called for the resignation of Aberto Gonzo, and voted against the war in Iraq. I can't talk about the details because if I did I might fall off of the fence. It isn't easy to do this balancing act and as you know I do my best to please everybody. Please accept my apologies for introducing the Digital Content Protection Act of 2006.

The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the FCC had exceeded its authority in creating this rule. The court stated that the commission could not prohibit the manufacture of computer or video hardware without copy protection technology because the FCC only has authority to regulate communications, not devices that receive communications. It is possible that a higher court may overturn this ruling, or the United States Congress may grant such authority to the FCC. Some of the major U.S. television networks have stated in the past that they will stop broadcasting high-definition content if the rule does not go into effect.
As of June 21, 2005, there are rumors Hollywood is attempting to sneak the Broadcast Flag back as a rider on the Senate Appropriation bill.

On May 1, 2006, Sen. Ted Stevens inserted a version of the Broadcast Flag into the Communications, Consumer’s Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006. The draft section can be seen here , and the full text of the bill here . On June 22, 2006 Sen. John E. Sununu offered an amendment to strike the broadcast and radio flag[4], but this failed and the broadcast-flag amendment was approved by the Commerce committee, who at the same time voted down the network neutrality provisions . Nonetheless, the overall bill was never passed, and thus died upon adjournment of the 109th Congress in December 2006.

I know there are many more issues that you are concerned about, like the proposed liquid natural gas ports on the Columbia River, the recent abuses by the timber industry, and the proliferation of the grass seed industry. Please contact me with your concerns and with any ideas on how to restore Democracy to "We The People".

I remain your liberal Repulican senator.

Ranger Gordon Smith

Congresspedia: Gordon Smith