There's good news coming out of the FCC for radio fans; news that's sorely needed after two bits of

negative

news this past week. The FCC has published its rules for Digital Audio

Broadcasting (DAB), and the big news is what's not in the rules: the broadcast flag.

The FCC made a number of important decisions with regards to DAB, but none of them touched the sensitive issue of requiring encryption and end-user control schemes for digital radio. The FCC's silence on the matter means that should the RIAA still wish to chase after the broadcast flag for digital radio, they'll need to lobby Congress to get it. The jury is out on whether or not there's any chance of Congress pushing something like that through, but since last year's elections there seems to be more skepticism in Congress with regards to the entertainment industry's technology plans. And make no mistake: the clock is ticking on this one. Digital radio has the clear go-ahead now (previous offerings were on a limited, case-by-case basis), and the time for implementing such a thing is quickly passing because of the equipment setup involved.

The announcement also indicates that the FCC (PDF of the announcement) chose to refrain from establishing a mandatory conversion schedule for digital radio, and a number of other changes seem largely favorable for the industry. FCC commissioner Robert M. McDowell called the FCC's decision "historic," as it now paves the way for digital radio to roll out across the country and in fairly laissez-faire fashion. This concise report by Glenn Fleishman covers most of those issues, and I also recommend this write-up by Brad Kava at the Mercury News.

Capture the Flag

For more than a year there has been a battle between the RIAA and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) over the issue of protecting content on digital radio. The issue centers around digital radio's quality: DAB will provide static-free, near-CD quality broadcasts, and the RIAA and friends are worried that this will enable users to merely record radio and never buy a CD again.

The big problem with the RIAA's demand for a broadcast flag was that they missed the boat. While radio stations were prepping for this move for years, the RIAA twiddled its thumbs. Only at the 11th hour did they step in and then ask for changes. A broadcast flag solution would have required end-to-end encryption, which would have required significant changes to digital radio broadcasting equipment. To make matters worse, there are already digital radio players on the market, and a move to a broadcast flag would have rendered them useless.

The RIAA will likely still fight for a broadcast flag for radio, but the FCC's decision makes it plain that they would prefer to see digital radio get out of the gate sooner rather than later, and they remain satisfied that the rollout should begin immediately and without worry for the added complications of a broadcast flag.