mpd@netcom.com (Mike Duvos) said: MD> oO F145C0 Oo <fiasco@echo.sound.net> writes:
Apparently the US government is planning on starting up its V-chip program again, which will allow public/cable TV to be censored at will. What does everyone thing about this ploy?
Yes, it is censorship. At least, it is if you aren't watching every program on every channel available to you right now, because your channel selection allows you to censor public/cable TV at will right now, without the V-Chip. What the V-Chip does is allow you to censor what is shown on your television, even in your absence. I'll concede that there are positive aspects to this for parents, but I resent the 'you must install it in all TVs' part. If enough people want it, they can get TVs with it.
And whats next? Chips in my radio, to prevent music, or a chip in my phone to make sure i dont call anyone bad? The V-chip is just as much a privacy/1st amendment violation as the clipper chip is/was. I believe the worst part of the V-chip plan, is to force all new TV's manufactured or imported to the US, to have this new chip. Could this chip even be part of a Chinese lottery?
MD> As I understand it, the basic concept behind the V-Chip is to MD> allow selective blocking of material a particular viewer might MD> find offensive based on content information transmitted along with MD> the program. As long as the program material itself is MD> transmitted unaltered, and there are multiple non-governmental MD> providers of content descriptions catering to the spectrum of MD> human likes and dislikes, this sounds like ideal Cypherpunk MD> technology. The content information is transmitted as part of the program, in the between-frame band which is normally not in the displayed area of the picture, not on a separate signal. (Now why can't they use this band for something truely useful, like an automatic time sync and VCRPlus ID, so that your VCR could pick it up, and know that VCRPlus ID 69 is on channel 13, and is broadasting with a +2:30 skew from what you think the time is?) Because of this, there will be _one_ content code, not a select-your-rater content method. The other reason for not having a select-your-rater method is, first, the sheer volume of TV broadcasting. No service could possibly rate all TV content. Second, no service could rate _live_ TV, such as the nightly news, or post-game NFL locker room films. My guess is that the producer of a program will get first shot at putting a label on a program, or not. Then the distributor will be able to keep the producers label, change it, add their own, or remove it. This will continue until the broadcaster gets to decide whether or not to transmit a V-Code, and whether to use the last distributors label or their own. But do you really think that MTV will use a V-Code? (It could be amusing if they did - 10 minutes of blank screen, then 2 minutes of commercials when someone cranks all of their settings to Full Filter.) [...] MD> It should be noted that the V-Chip is currently vaporware, and MD> exists only in the minds of politicians. There probably will MD> never be an actual "V-Chip", just a little additional software in MD> our already heavily computerized televisions, radios, and personal MD> computers. Incorrect. The 'V-Chip' exists (at least according to a demonstration on NBC News ("Home of the Exploding Chevy") the other night), there just isn't sufficient consumer demand for it to have hit the market yet. And, from appearances, it doesn't pixelate the picture, it blocks the signal entirely. They should at least have put a 'Sorry, kiddies, you have to hack your parents passcode to see this.' message up. That's the weakness here - it was only a 4 digit passcode locking the V-Chip level - does anyone really think that some kid who wants to watch HBO or MTV isn't gonna cycle through the numbers, even if it is only a few dozen at a time? Or that there isn't a reset mechanism for when Pop forgets the code and he really wants to watch 'Showgirls' on PPV? -- #include <disclaimer.h> /* Sten Drescher */ 1973 Steelers About Three Bricks Shy of a Load 1994 Steelers 1974 Steelers And the Load Filled Up 1995 Steelers? Unsolicited email advertisements will be proofread for a US$100/page fee.