At 6:13 PM 7/31/95, Robert Hettinga wrote:

I could agree to a private filtering mechanism where each program broadcasts an ID number.

A chip on the set reads this info from the dark band between frames or someplace.

Private agencies rate the programs by whatever criteria sells ("Bikinis & Beer", "Motherhood and Apple Pie", whatever), and people load those rating/show lookups into their set off of the net or wherever...

Certainly the government shouldn't reqire anything. The government couldn't find its ass with both hands. I bet this scheme could sell on an information value-added basis alone.

The "VCR-Plus" codes that are already published essentially offer this code already. Thus, one looks in the channel lisings and finds "Debbie Does Fort Meade" has a VCR-Plus code of "31415926," which one enters to set recording times, etc. (This even has some low-level crypto content, as the VCRPlus coding system was a topic of much debate a couple of years ago.) True, this takes work. (Though some satellite systems offer it via a point-and-click interface, on the actual t.v. screen.) The key difference between this setup and the "in band" proposal RAH is making is that VCR-Plus is "out of band." But the point is that the info is there in both cases. The infrastructure for using this to block stuff doesn't exist in most t.v.s or VCRs, but then it wouldn't exist either with RAH's in-band program labelling approach (which I expect is coming anyway--my cable system reports on what network it's seeing, even as the networks alter lineups, and reports time, system status, etc....all presumably in the 4-line interval, etc.) What's really flawed about these "lockout" schemes is that the installed base of televisions and VCRs is NOT going to go away, that no magic wand is going to give a single mother who wants to control what her children watch a new t.v. or VCR. As some non-stupid Senators noted, the V-chip system will go into the households who need it the _least_! --Tim May .......................................................................... Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@sensemedia.net | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero 408-728-0152 | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Corralitos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments. Higher Power: 2^756839 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."