NHK Receiving Fee System: Vested in...
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NHK Receiving Fee System: Vested interests that reduce Japan's competitiveness
On June 26th, the Tokyo District Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by a woman who installed a TV in her home that could not receive only NHK. I made this TV.
The principle of blocking only NHK is a long-known technology called an LC resonant notch filter, which was initially developed in the form of an antenna that blocks only NHK. The impetus for the development of this device was an incident in which Diet member Nariaki Nakayama's question in the Diet on March 8, 2013 was deleted from his YouTube at the request of NHK.
At the House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting on the same day, Kiyomi Tsujimoto and Nariaki Nakayama asked questions about the so-called comfort women issue from diametrically opposed positions. Both were uploaded to YouTube, but NHK requested the removal of only the latter. This markedly lacks the political neutrality that public broadcasting should protect, and at the same time threatens democracy, which respects the diverse opinions of the public. In response to this, NHK developed an antenna that does not reflect only NHK, thinking that it is necessary to provide viewers with the option of legally protesting. The filter part is sold separately on Amazon, etc., and has already sold more than 3,000 units.
The NHK decision to lose the lawsuit, which I mentioned at the beginning, had a great reaction, and various media outlets have already reported on the summary of the decision and my comments. Most of the reactions to the report have been positive, but if this ruling were finalized by the Supreme Court and TVs that do not show only NHK became popular, some people would worry that it would have a negative impact on society. Therefore, in this article, I would like to discuss the NHK problem from that perspective.
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