Hollywood and NFL Fight TiVo

An anonymous reader writes "MSNBC/Washington Post is reporting that the NFL and tinseltown have asked the FCC to stop TiVo from expanding its service to include the ability to transfer recordings to PC's and other remote devices. TiVo says the system is secure. I say its source code will end up on the box. You do the math."

Comments

Re:Too Hard to Regulate

[tomhudson]

Interestingly enough, the same story mentions a bill that codifies into law your right to kill off objectional material. Maybe objectionable material can include, for example, advertising to minors.

Meanwhile, yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would significantly broaden user rights. The bill would exempt from copyright law technologies enabling users to zap objectionable parts of shows and movies so the programming can be viewed by children.

I don't understand the NFL's concerns

[angle_slam]

The NFL, the largest and most popular sport league in the US, is concerned that someone might TiVo a game and send it to someone else. Why? A game is only useful if it is live. Even a 1 hour delay makes the game's value nearly nil.

There are two reasons a fan would want a TiVo'd game. (1) the game isn't broadcast in their area. E.g., a Steelers fan who lives in Nebraska might not get the Steelers on their TV. The solution: NFL Sunday Ticket. "But that's exclusive to DirecTV?" says the NFL. Well whose fucking fault is that. There are plenty of people who would be willing to pay for NFL Sunday Ticket if it were available through Cable companies. They can't because the greedy NFL signs a multi-billion dollar contract with DirecTV. (I want Sunday Ticket, but my apartment faces north. I can't get DirecTV.)

(2) the game is blacked out. A Steelers fan might not see the Steelers because the game is blacked out. Actually, the Steelers are a bad example because they haven't been blacked out in 30 years. So let's use the Cardinals. Their home games are never broadcast in Phoenix because they never come close to selling out. The whole purpose of the blackout policy is to force fans to buy tickets to prevent the blackout. It obviously doesn't work because the Cards still only get 30,000 fans per game. So why do they still use this outdated, policy that doesn't work? None of the other major sports black out home game.

The NFL can end the market for Tivo'd games by merely offering NFL Sunday Ticket to all cable companies and ending the blackout policy that doesn't work.

Dammit dammit dammit!

[jeblucas]

I feel like a sheep. Like I'm just being sheparded around told what to like, how to like it, and how long to like it before have my hindquarters slapped over to the next pasture. "You're done enjoying that NFL game. Go watch this now." Everytime a company comes along and says "hey, we're not trying to screw you, do what you want," a thousand other companies come out of the woodwork to shout them down. This is just part-and-parcel with the following other travesties:

• VoIP must be stopped! It lets people make phone calls without paying someone [other than the broadband provider]!
• Making people pay [a fortune] for commercial television. I remember when people thought it was okay to pay for cable because you got things like HBO, which didn't have commercials. HBO still doesn't have commercials, but it's still an extra $12/mo on your $60 cable bill.
• When did ease-of-use become piracy? I used to make mixtapes for girlfriends. I had the Jerky Boys calls on some umpteenth generation copy of a copy. I don't remember anyone up in arms about this--the Jerky Boys got a movie deal out of that underground phenomenon. Now that I can easily make a share a mix it's illegal?

Don't give up everyone. Write your Congressperson. Some of you live in Utah. Do something about it.

Re:let me beat the mythtv diy PVR drum =)

[enrico_suave]

I'll play your game rogue...

There ARE easy to setup PC PVR options. I shlopped a PVR350 in a box paired with SageTV (review) and it was pretty simple.

The cost thing is a valid concern. There is potentially a larger initial cash outlay (but no subscription fees.)

With that said the DirectTV deals with Tivo (which are they still being offered? Didnt't DTV and tivo have a bitter divorce quite publiclly last month?) ARE a great value if you go the satellite route. Dual tuning, digital only stream, Tivo ease of use, low subscription...

But out of the box without modification (software or hardware) you can't get the content off your DTV tivo box, which is the point of this article.

Another compelling reason is if you are a paranoid schizo and don't trust TiVo (no matter WHAT their privacy statements say, and oh by the way they can change them at any time) about collecting info on your viewing habits... if you DIY you can have more control over what goes in and out of your DIY PVR (unless you tape MTV, I can't help the GIGO there)

Note: I own and love my tivo and don't wear a tinfoil hat, just thought I point it out as a potential reasoning.

Now if Dishnetwork and DirectTV would supply the needed daughter cards/access cards to digital satellite PCI PVR cards we wouldn't be able to argue about the "re-encoding digital content" issue. (you can use those cards in Europe with subscription satellite services, but not here, from what I understand)

*shrug* YMMV,

e.