The controversial ruling has been misunderstood in some circles, FCC spokesperson Michelle Russo told NewsFactor. The mandate applies only to devices that have a built-in digital television tuner, not to all personal computers and DVD players, as some press reports have stated.

The FCC said that the goal of the action, taken Tuesday, is to foster the transition to digital TV and forestall potential harm to the viability of free, over-the-air broadcasting in the digital age. Producers of high-value television content , the agency argues, will have little motivation to make their product available on network TV unless it is protected.

Marginal Benefit

The FCC acknowledges that the technology fix is only a "speed bump" on the road to hacking digital transmissions and re-broadcasting them. But it is a deterrent, which is more than currently is in place.

The benefit of the mandate will be minimal, Aberdeen Group analyst Peter Kastner agreed. "It's a fool's game," he told NewsFactor. "Software will be written to intercept the digital content and send it back out without the flag." Thus, serious pirates will overcome the small obstacle. "If it can run on hardware, it can be hacked," he said.

Marginal Cost

What might be detrimental to consumers is the cost to personal electronics makers -- including PC manufacturers -- of researching and developing the flag-recognition technology. That cost, Kastner said, eventually will be passed on to consumers.

The FCC argues that the cost will be front-loaded and that the eventual marginal cost of including the technology will be very low over the long haul. Currently, very few personal computers have digital TV tuners built in. That number likely will grow over the coming years, but by the time the mandate takes effect in 2005, the R&D effort will be completed, the agency argues.

Bumpy Road to the Future

The FCC says its role is as a facilitator of the nation's conversion to digital television. The ruling it made a year ago, that all digital televisions include a tuning device, also was opposed by consumer groups, but that ruling has been upheld in court. The agency believes that the same would be true if the flag-recognition technology mandate were brought to court.

At issue, according to the agency, is whether digital broadcasting will migrate entirely to the realm of pay services, such as cable and satellite, or whether the public will retain access to such programming.

Consumer advocates argue that requiring flag-recognition technology on all devices that can receive the digital signal will raise the price of a wide range of computing and DVD devices, even those bought by people who do not care to access digital broadcasts.

Kastner likened it to the V-chip of a few years ago, which allowed PC users to establish parental controls on Internet access. In that case, even consumers who did not wish to restrict access to the Internet through their PCs would have had to bear the brunt of V-chip technology costs. The flag issue is the same, the analyst argues.

The FCC counters that the flag-recognition technology will be entirely transparent to device users. Only someone who is trying to hack the transmission will be required to deal with it.