President Trump's actions against public broadcasting are overshadowed by the FCC's proposed ATSC Transition to a DRM-based digital television standard. This shift, supported by the National Association of Broadcasters, would encrypt over-the-air broadcasts, requiring viewers to purchase new equipment to access their existing public airwaves. While some may not find this significant, many rural, low-income viewers depend on free broadcast television for vital services. Enforcing DRM could restrict access to essential programming and reduce the public's ownership rights over their airwaves.
This move is confusingly called the "ATSC Transition" (ATSC is the digital TV standard the US switched to in 2009 - the "transition" here is to ATSC 3.0, a new version with built-in DRM).
The "ATSC Transition" is championed by the National Association of Broadcasters, who want to effectively privatize the public airwaves, allowing broadcasters to encrypt over-the-air programming.
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