Re: Sex & Crime TV filter

[tcmay@sensemedia.net (Timothy C. May)]

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

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