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APPENDIX 4.-TECHNICAL REFERENCE DOCUMENT FOR THE AUDIO HOME RECORDING ACT OF 1991

Introduction

This Technical Reference Document is provided to facilitate

implementation of legislation relating to digital audio recording ("DAR") devices, known as the "Audio Home Recording Act of 1991" ("the Act").

This Technical Reference Document establishes the standards and specifications that are necessary to implement the Serial Copy Management System ("SCMS") under the Act. It draws in part from specifications proposed to the International Electrotechnical Commission ("IEC") in "IEC 958: Digital Audio Interface" (First edition 1989-03) and "Amendment No. 1 to IEC 958 (1989): Digital Audio Interface, Serial Copy Management System" (Reference 84 (CO) 126 submitted on June 21, 1991) (collectively, "IEC 958"), and "IEC 60A (CO) 136 Part 6: Serial copy management system for consumer audio use DAT recorders". The standards and specifications set forth herein relate only to the implementation of SCMS via digital audio interface signals, DAR devices and digital audio interface devices. The standards and specifications set forth herein, as they may be amended pursuant to an order of the Secretary of Commerce under Section 1022 (b) of Subchapter C of the Act, shall be considered determinative under the Act, regardless of any future action by the IEC or by a manufacturer or by an owner of a proprietary technology.

SCMS is intended to prohibit DAR devices from recording "second-generation" digital copies from "first-generation" digital copies containing audio material over which copyright has been

asserted via SCMS. It does not generally restrict the ability of such devices devices to make "first-generation" digital copies from "original" digital sources such as prerecorded commercially available compact discs, digital transmissions or digital tapes.

Currently, the predominant type of DAR device offered for sale in the United States is the DAT recorder, which records and sends digital signals in accordance with the IEC 958 nonprofessional digital audio interface format. Additional types of DAR devices and interface formats are being or may be developed. The standards and specifications in this Technical Reference Document are not intended to hinder the development of such new technologies but require, in accordance with Section 1021(a) (1) (A) − (C) of Subchapter c of the Act, that they incorporate the functional characteristics of SCMS protection. In order for a DAR device to be "compatible with the prevailing method of implementing SCMS", to the extent DAR devices are capable of recording signals sent in a particular digital audio interface signal format, the SCMS information must be accurately received and acted upon by the DAR device so as to correctly implement the same level of SCMS protection provided by that format. "Compatibility" does not require direct bit-for-bit correspondence across every interface signal format; indeed, particular interface signal formats may be recordable by some, but not all, DAR devices. To the extent that any digital audio interface device translates and sends signals in a form that can be recorded by a particular DAR device, however, "compatibility" requires that the SCMS information also be accurately translated

and sent by the interface device, and accurately read and acted upon by the DAR device.

This document is in three parts. Part I Section A sets forth standards and specifications constituting the functional characteristics for implementing SCMS in digital audio interface signals. Sections B and C then apply these standards and specifications in a specific reference for implementing SCMS in the IEC 958 nonprofessional digital audio interface format. Part II Section A similarly first sets forth standards and specifications constituting the functional characteristics for implementing SCMS in DAR devices. Sections B and C then apply these standards and specifications in a specific reference for implementing SCMS with respect to the recording and play-back functions of nonprofessional model DAT recorders. Part III contains a series of charts that apply and correlate those codes that are mandated for implementation in DAT recorders by Parts I-C and II-C of this

document.

The terms "digital audio interface device," "digital audio recording device," "digital audio recording medium," "distribute," "professional model," and "transmission" as used in this document have the same meanings as in the Act. "Generation status" means whether the signal emanates from a source that has been produced or published by or with the authority of the owner of the material, such as commercially released pre-recorded compact discs or digital tapes or a digital transmission (referred to herein as "original");

or whether the signal emanates from a recording made from such

· "original" material.

PART I.

IMPLEMENTATION OF SCMS IN DIGITAL AUDIO INTERFACE FORMATS Various consumer devices are capable of producing digital audio signals. Currently, for example, compact disc players, DAT recorders and analog-to-digital converters can send digital audio signals; future devices may include digital include digital microphones or recordable compact disk devices. To enable communication between these different types of devices and a DAR device, it is necessary and desirable to establish common protocols or "interfaces" that mandate specific information in the digital audio output signal of each device. Digital signal interfaces may enable communication of different types of data. A "digital audio interface signal" communicates audio and related interface data as distinguished from, for example, computer or video data. Digital audio interface signal formats may be established for particular types of devices or uses. For example, interface protocols may exist for broadcast use, or for users of professional model products ("professional interface") or for nonprofessional model products ("nonprofessional interface"). One such set of protocols already has been Sections B and C of Part I summarize and mandate the implementation of SCMS in the IEC 958 nonprofessional interface.

established in the document IEC 958.

Section A sets forth the standards and specifications for implementing SCMS in digital audio interface signals and devices.

Digital Audio Interface standard

To implement the functional characteristics of SCMS in nonprofessional digital audio interface signal formats, whether presently known or developed in the future, the following conditions must be observed:

1. The digital audio interface format shall provide a means

to indicate:

(a)

Whether or not copyright protection is

is being asserted via SCMS over the material being sent via the interface;

and,

(b) Whether or not the generation status of the material

being sent via the interface is original.

2. If the digital audio interface format has discrete professional and nonprofessional modes, the interface format and digital audio interface devices shall indicate accurately the professional or nonprofessional status of the interface signal. Such indication is referred to generically as a "channel status block flag".

3. If the interface format has a discrete mode for sending data other than audio material, the interface format shall indicate accurately whether or not the interface signal contains audio material.

a

4. If a digital audio interface device is capable of combining more than one digital audio input signal into a single digital audio output signal, and if copyright is asserted via SCMS

over the material being sent in at least one of the input signals,