A federal appeals court Tuesday gave consumer advocates a chance to bolster their legal challenge of a rule designed to limit the copying of digital television programs.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit gave opponents two weeks to further explain a key legal point in the case -- how they would be harmed by the new Federal Communications Commission's "broadcast flag" rule.
Two of the three judges said further explanation was needed to prove that opponents such as the American Library Association had legal standing to challenge the rule in court.
The FCC rule aims to limit people from sending copies of digital television programs over the Internet. The FCC has said copyright protections are needed to help speed the adoption of digital television.
Under the FCC rule, programmers can attach a code, or flag, to digital broadcasts that would, in most cases, bar consumers from sending unauthorized copies over the Web.
The rule requires manufacturers of television sets that receive digital over-the-air broadcast signals to produce sets that can read the digital code by July 1 of this year.
Some consumer groups say the rule could raise prices to consumers and sets a bad precedent by allowing broadcasters to dictate how computers and other devices should be built.
During arguments in the case last month, the judges sided with critics of the new rule, who argue that regulators had overstepped their authority. They expressed doubts about whether the FCC had specific authority to dictate how electronic devices must be made.
But at the hearing they also questioned critics' legal standing, noting that parties have standing only when they can show that an agency ruling will cause them a unique, "particularized" harm.
One of the three judges, David Sentelle, dissented from Tuesday's decision. In a separate opinion, he said the case should be dismissed because of the standing problem.
