Excellent news for the indispensable Electronic Frontier Foundation:

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has awarded a $600,000 grant to the Electronic Frontier Foundation to represent the public interest at meetings of the Digital Video Broadcasting Project in Europe where global standards on digital television and other digital data services will be set.

"There are a number of influential members of the entertainment industry that use industry standard setting meetings - such as the Digital Video Broadcasting Project in Europe - as opportunities to mandate technological features that control digital media, such as devices for digital television that limit the user's ability to copy programming for personal use or to skip commercials," said Jonathan F. Fanton, President of the MacArthur Foundation. "By participating in such meetings, the Electronic Frontier Foundation is working to protect the rights of the user and ensure that future uses of technology are not restricted by the industry."

"We're so pleased that the MacArthur Foundation is supporting our work in this important area," said EFF Executive Director Shari Steele. "It's imperative that the public interest be represented in these standards meetings, and thanks to the Foundation, we'll be able to make sure that the public's voice is heard."

The Digital Video Broadcasting Project is a consortium of broadcasters, manufacturers, network operators, software developers, regulatory bodies, and others from more than 35 European countries that work together to set standards for their industry. They are currently debating copy-management standards for digital television, which will help determine the future design of televisions, video recording equipment, and video components of personal computers. At these industry meetings, policy is often set that has far-reaching implications for the future use of technology on digital rights management and intellectual property. Because these meetings have traditionally been closed to the media and the cost of attendance has limited the participation of public interest advocates, the Foundation is providing support to ensure there is input that balances the commercial interests normally represented at these meetings with those of the public.

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