The Federal Communications Commission’s Broadcast Flag mandate is set to come in to force on 1st July, if legal challenges fail to stop it. The Broadcast Flag will place severe restrictions on consumers’ ability to view HDTV content in the way that suits them and it will stop you from recording some HDTV programs altogether.

The Broadcast Flag rule will make it illegal for anyone to ship any device capable of demodulating HDTV signals unless it listens for and respects the flag inserted into broadcasts by copyright holders. This flag is a digital rights management tool which tells HDTV receivers what they can and can’t do with the signal. So for example, it will no longer be possible to burn recorded HDTV programs to DVD, or edit out the bits of a program you don’t want. Nor will it be possible to stream HDTV signals around your house on your existing network.

Many of the features of VCRs and DVD recorders that we now take for granted will be unavailable under the Broadcast Flag mandate.

The good news is that if you buy an HDTV receiver before 1st July, it need not listen for or respect the flag after July 1st and you’ll be able to carry on recording or streaming HDTV. And there are plenty of groups and individuals opposed to the Broadcast Flag who will attempt to have it delayed or cancelled. These groups include the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which believes that the principle of Fair Use, which says that individuals should be free to decide how and when they watch content for which they have paid, should apply to HDTV.