DMCA Loophole For Peer-to-Peer TV Show Sharing?

An anonymous reader writes "Fortune.com asks, "Is TV Show Swapping Legal? For those using TiVos or new Windows PCs, it just might be." Why? "The law that ensnared ... DVD hackers, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, doesn't specifically address the question of [personal video recorders]. But when it comes to the legality of hacking digital media, the law zeroes in on 'circumvention' -- did hackers have to circumvent protection to copy the video? Several hackers who have published their techniques online say they didn't have to crack anything to extract video from their TiVos""

Comments

Cracking up: the far side

[Anonymous Coward]

Several hackers who have published their techniques online say they didn't have to crack anything to extract video from their TiVos"

Well, duh! They had to crack open their TiVo units in order to get the hard drives out. That's good enough proof of circumvention for an American court.

Re:But you could make your case to Ad Agencies

[MikeVx]

I.e., imagine Stan and Kyle drinking Pepsi and belching. Or Cartman eating Hormel Beans and... well, you get the idea.

I can see companies paying to have Cartman not use thier product. :-)

Re:Always has been illegal...

[HarveyBirdman]

Impossible! Someone who watches The Wonder Years is not usually out on Friday nights! You lie! YOU LIIIEEE!!!

;-)