It may be a
while since we’ve heard anything new from Congress about the Broadcast Flag’s radio
counterpart, the Audio Flag, but rest assured, your elected representatives haven’t stopped thinking about it. And the
latest incarnation of the law,the Audio Broadcast Flag Licensing Act of 2006, H.R. 4861, is a bill you might want to
actually give a perusal. Turns out that, when it comes to digital radio, the bill basically takes away any “fair
use” rights you might have assumed you had, and lets the record industry decide what you can and can’t do with
your radio. Want to record a radio show so you can listen to it later? Sorry, not unless the record industry says you
can. Want to tape a couple of songs, so you can listen to them again before deciding whether to buy them? Forget about
it. In fact, the law as written would require manufacturers to get FCC approval if they wanted to includ recording
functions in their digital radios. Of course, this is still just a bill, yes, it’s only a bill, which means there’s
time to make some changes. And, as we’ve seen, there are at least some Senators who have
doubts about giving the record industry even more control over what we can and can’t listen to. Maybe teaching them all
how to use an iPod isn’t such a
bad idea after all.