"broadcast flags" incorrectly set - who do we notify and will anyone care?
NotarySojac
Enthusiast - Level 3

The "broadcast flag" on many over-air network TV shows now appear to be set incorrectly. They are now "copy once" instead of "copy freely" which is what all broadcast media is supposed to be set to.

According to what I've researched online, the broadcasters (NBC, CBS, PBS, etc) can accideltally set the flag to "copy once" but it is far more frequent that the provider (Cox, Comcast, Verizon...) sets it. Cox is notorious for setting everything to "copy once" while TimeWarner in the past often set everything to "copy freely"

Does anyone know who we can bring this problem up with? The FCC perhaps?

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Re: "broadcast flags" incorrectly set - who do we notify and will anyone care?
KenAF
Specialist - Level 2

@NotarySojac wrote:

Do you know if the ElGato products pay attention to the broadcast flags? The EyeTV looks to only accept composite and S-Video from the STB, so the recording will certainly not be HD quality. Central NJ is out of reach of both NY & Philly digital over-air broadcasts, so for quality we were looking to pipe it of FiOS.


You're looking at the wrong EyeTV product.  Look at the one I linked.  It just has a coax input, QAM tuner, and it ignores broadcast flags.


In fact, every product ignores the broadcast flags aside from the Motorola and some SA/Cisco DVRs.


@NotarySojac wrote:

So, sadly the answer to my original question is probably "broadcasters and providers can set flags as they d@mn well please and the consumers have no recourse other than to find ways around it."


Right.  It's up to consumers to buy / use a product that ignores the flags.   I use a TivoHD which allows me to browse the DVR and download the recordings to my computer.

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Re: "broadcast flags" incorrectly set - who do we notify and will anyone care?
KenAF
Specialist - Level 2

@NotarySojac wrote:

The "broadcast flag" on many over-air network TV shows now appear to be set incorrectly. They are now "copy once" instead of "copy freely" which is what all broadcast media is supposed to be set to.

According to what I've researched online, the broadcasters (NBC, CBS, PBS, etc) can accideltally set the flag to "copy once" but it is far more frequent that the provider (Cox, Comcast, Verizon...) sets it. Cox is notorious for setting everything to "copy once" while TimeWarner in the past often set everything to "copy freely"

Does anyone know who we can bring this problem up with? The FCC perhaps?


Some FOX and CBS affiliates are known to set the "broadcast flag."   It doesn't affect anything except Firewire output.   Motorola STBs and DVRs encrypt Firewire output of any channel with the broadcast flag.   You can still record those unencrypted channels with a PC QAM tuner, and other DVRs like TiVo also ignore the broadcast flag for the purposes of transfers/downloads.


Federal courts already eliminated the legal requirement to observe the broadcast flag.   But there's nothing that says an affiliate or specific manufacturer can't observe it on their own equipment.   Motorola does that with their equipment, regardless of provider.

If you want to record unencrypted HD local channels with your Windows PC, I suggest picking up a QAM tuner like the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250.  If you want a standalone HDTV DVR that ignores those flags, then you can buy a TivoHD.

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Re: "broadcast flags" incorrectly set - who do we notify and will anyone care?
NotarySojac
Enthusiast - Level 3

I've archived many broadcast shows to our Macs over the years via Firewire, both while we were with Comcast and now with Verizon FiOS, but it is just recently that almost every recording I try to archive - broadcast or otherwise - has the flag set to Copy Once. I knew FOX was a pita about arbitrarily setting the flag, but was not aware the others were doing it too.

Since we're an all-Mac house I'm looking into getting the Hauppauge 1212 HD-PVR to get around this at a reasonable price.

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Re: "broadcast flags" incorrectly set - who do we notify and will anyone care?
KenAF
Specialist - Level 2

@NotarySojac wrote:

I've archived many broadcast shows to our Macs over the years via Firewire, both while we were with Comcast and now with Verizon FiOS, but it is just recently that almost every recording I try to archive - broadcast or otherwise - has the flag set to Copy Once. I knew FOX was a pita about arbitrarily setting the flag, but was not aware the others were doing it too.

Since we're an all-Mac house I'm looking into getting the Hauppauge 1212 HD-PVR to get around this at a reasonable price.


As an alternative, you could buy a QAM tuner for your Mac like the Elgato EyeTV.  That would allow you to record the unencrypted SD and HD locals without the need to mess with the Verizon box.   That would give you a better picture than the Hauppauge HD PVR component capture device, although it obviously would not allow you to record cable channels.

The Hauppauge HD PVR device does not officially support the Mac, although it will work with this third party program ($30).  Scheduled recordings are still rather kludgy compared to EyeTV, but this works fine if you want to press play on your DVR and then record on your Mac.

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Re: "broadcast flags" incorrectly set - who do we notify and will anyone care?
NotarySojac
Enthusiast - Level 3

Do you know if the ElGato products pay attention to the broadcast flags? The EyeTV looks to only accept composite and S-Video from the STB, so the recording will certainly not be HD quality. Central NJ is out of reach of both NY & Philly digital over-air broadcasts, so for quality we were looking to pipe it of FiOS.

We do not need a 24/7 replacement for the Verizon DVR, but instead want to be able to archive off favourite episodes as the measley drive fills up or even just short clips to create Desktops. Toth's HDPVR-capture will more than suffice. Until some genius develops a way that we can browse the Verizon DVR's hard drive like any other network drive, hitting Play on the remote and Record on HDPVR-capture will have to do.

So, sadly the answer to my original question is probably "broadcasters and providers can set flags as they d@mn well please and the consumers have no recourse other than to find ways around it."

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Re: "broadcast flags" incorrectly set - who do we notify and will anyone care?
KenAF
Specialist - Level 2

@NotarySojac wrote:

Do you know if the ElGato products pay attention to the broadcast flags? The EyeTV looks to only accept composite and S-Video from the STB, so the recording will certainly not be HD quality. Central NJ is out of reach of both NY & Philly digital over-air broadcasts, so for quality we were looking to pipe it of FiOS.


You're looking at the wrong EyeTV product.  Look at the one I linked.  It just has a coax input, QAM tuner, and it ignores broadcast flags.


In fact, every product ignores the broadcast flags aside from the Motorola and some SA/Cisco DVRs.


@NotarySojac wrote:

So, sadly the answer to my original question is probably "broadcasters and providers can set flags as they d@mn well please and the consumers have no recourse other than to find ways around it."


Right.  It's up to consumers to buy / use a product that ignores the flags.   I use a TivoHD which allows me to browse the DVR and download the recordings to my computer.

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Re: "broadcast flags" incorrectly set - who do we notify and will anyone care?
NotarySojac
Enthusiast - Level 3

I did look at the one you linked and read:

"Receives digital TV with an antenna, basic analog cable TV, and unencrypted digital cable (Clear QAM)

Breakout cable for composite, S-Video & audio connections"

I had not even considered putting a splitter in the coax line to the DVR as we have anough signal breakup as it is, but if it can do pristine 1080i it may be worth getting a Verizon tech out yet again to try to figure out why we get mozaics and sound drop outs only between midnight & 5am...

The Tivo HD has been beconing at us seuctively since it was finally introduced, but we're afraid it may have the same splitter issues as any other coax add-in, and swapping it for the Verizon DVR loses the On Demand content.

Thanks for the suggestions.

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