Digital Content Protection Act of 2006 & Broadcast Flag

I have been keeping an eye on the Digital Millennial Copyright Act and its surrounding action items for a while - partially for my academic pursuits, but also because of the potential ramifications to our professional operations. Originally designed to control how the content of digital television is disseminated (a'la Tivo), the latest incarnation is set to cover pretty much any device that comes into contact with other devices that recieve digital video, radio, and most likely other portals that have yet to be discovered.

On the outside this may not look as though it impact us very much - but just consider what may occur should every students iPod and RFD&D's DAISY Players start having codecs installed that will not allow materials not authorized by designated entites to be played on them? Imagine a world where either of these scenarios takes place:

1. .mp3's or dtb's created in-house cannot be readily transferred to students personal players or computers or burned onto cd's - let alone shared among members of the AMX Database. [Sorry students, you are going to have to come to my office and use my computer to access your alt-text.]
2. Organizations such as Bookshare and RFBD, which have (or may be considering) over the web services may have to create additional layers of security for the distribution of their goods.

Are either if these really a possibility -- I believe they are (long-shots to be sure, but possible nontheless). Should this bill become law it could open the door to all sorts of weird mutations of copyright and fair use. However - things may have taken a turn for the better during the Senate Commerce Committee hearings earlier this week when MIT alum John Sununu (R-NH) interrupted to ask the question so far unconsidered by his colleagues: that being "Do we need this mandate at all?" The Electronic Frontier Foundation does a better job of reporting on this hearing than I could, so please take a look and listen.