Brazil set to cripple TV with American DRM
The entertainment companies haven't been able to get DRM mandates in the developed world. The US struck down the Broadcast Flag, Europe's proposal for its own version of the Broadcast Flag infection is stalled and may just die. Hollywood can't convince governments in the developed world to rewrite their broadcast policy to line their pockets, but they've managed to capture the government of a developing nation.
The Brazilian constitution demands that TV be "free and gratuitous" -- something that can't possibly be squared with a foreign-controlled DRM system that prevents saving, copying, and educational use of TV programs. Local activists are organizing -- if you're in Brazil, you need to get involved now.
Link (Thanks, Pedro)In spite of all these arguments, the battle is being won by the broadcasters. There are only a few Ministries in Brazil who went public against the implementation of the DRM: the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Science & Technology, among others. Nevertheless, the almighty Ministry of Communications, led by Helio Costa - a former anchorman of the largest Brazilian broadcasting company (TV Globo) - totally supports the adoption of DRM...
Proprietary and expensive, HDCP system would make set-top boxes even more expensive than the "one hundred dollars" promised by Minister Helio Costa. Some recent estimates indicate that the set-top boxes might cost up to US$ 400 - and we are talking about a country in which 1/3 of the population have per capita incomes of less than US$90. Considering that more than 90% of the households have television sets, think about a television divide between those with and without access to digital television.
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latest episodes
That's Why I TV-Globo. Some american fellows don't know, but literraly TV- Globo ellects a President.
I'm Pretty sure that Globo is behind that all
Wow. That's horrible.
I'm a little confused... the Brazilian DRM won't stop copying, yet it infringes on the constitution by (among other things) preventing copying?
And I'm not entirely sure how a constitutional requirement that t.v. be "free and gratuitous" necessitates that you be able to save and copy t.v. programs. Presumably the constitution was held in abeyance before technologies allowing for the saving and copying of broadcast television were developed. Even if this DRM is adopted we'll still have options simply unavailable to our parents and/or grandparents, as we can simply put a camcorder in front of our t.v. set and press record - DRM or no - an option unavailable for most of the history of television.
Finally, we can also ask how "free and gratuitous" television ever was. Were the prices of televisions always so low that everyone could afford a set of their own? Or were television sets initially quite expensive, like the digital receivers about to be introduced? Just because you have to make a one-time investment in order to receive the free transmissions doesn't make the transmissions any less free. Of course, this all presumes that analogue transmissions will cease when digital broadcasts begin. If not, it's difficult to see how current rights are being damaged at all.
This is probably a good thing for most Brazilians. I mean, anything that drives consumers away from the authoritarian and overpriced delivery systems of the 20th century can only be good for consumers in the long run.