Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act

Formerly known as the SSSCA, the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act, Senate Bill 2048, proposes to force sellers of “digital media devices” to include industry-designed and government-regulated monitoring systems on their products. This would allow the digital content industry the full-time ability to monitor how any device capable of playing digital media is used.Digital media devices include personal computers, and may potentially include personal digital assistants, such as Palm organizers.

Under the pretext of promoting a fair competitive market for digital televsion, the CBDTPA would give inordinate power to a select group of powerful media production companies to monitor and interfere with the digital media in use on a United States citizen’s computer or other digital media device.  If the “security” technology decides that a media in use is in violation of this group’s rules, it will take some as-yet undetermined action to stop the device, report the user or both.  This would give power to an industry consortium which is typical of that granted to a law enforcement agency by a search warrant.

Look around this site to find out more about this bill and its implications.  Then, get in touch with Congress and tell them to stop this bill.

The Constitution of the United States