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Is The Public Stuck With The Broadcast Flag?
peeping_Thomist writes "The only company that sells HDTV tuner cards for Linux has run out of cards to sell, and they are now missing deadlines for new getting new cards. Linux users who want to view and record HDTV face an uphill battle. Meanwhile, the dreaded July 1, 2005 deadline for manufacturing DRM-free HDTV tuners is fast approaching. MythTV supports HDTV tuner cards, but so far no one has made a move to, as the EFF puts it, "buy, build, and sell fully-capable, non-flag-compliant HDTV receivers" prior to the July 1 deadline. The current combination of MythTV and pcHDTV (assuming pcHDTV cards become available again) may, as the EFF says, be "great for geeks," but it is a far cry from the TIVO-esque simplicity a mass market demands. Unless someone can get bring a DRM-free hdtv recorder to market before the deadline, it seems the general public will have no chance to avoid the broadcast flag."
-- Bob
1^2=1; (-1)^2=1; 1^2=(-1)^2; 1=-1; 1=0.
Why act like this is the end of the world? Just stop 'consuming' the 'product' if you do not like the 'terms' the 'product' is offering.
In short - screw 'em. They make their money from advertisers and if the advertisers don't get eyeballs, they can't make money.
I'm not planning on buying any HDTV gear until I hear what way the broadcast flag useage is trending. And if PBS is using the broadcast flag, my donations will go away there also.
Mandate all you want about DRM or HDTV broadcasts, and while you're at it, mandate that pi=3, and that g=9, it's still not going to make much of a difference. The deadlines will be extended, and HDTV will continue to be reserved for a minority of channels of the cable and satellite broadcasters for at least the next half decade, simply because there's limited bandwidth.
Go ahead government, make our tv's stop working. We dare you. As for the DRM side, by the time that HDTV's actually do have a majority of the market the DRM will be cracked open, with the yellow encryption key yolk spilling out on the floor.
Relax mon!
The baby's fine -- please stop sending business cards.
Yeah, great, you are preaching to the choir and you are posting to Slashdot. Way to look like you are practicing what you preach...
People don't want to go outside. They don't want to be active. They certainly don't want to care about the broadcast flag.
People aren't going to know that the broadcast flag infringes on their rights because they don't know their rights and they don't care to know them. They want to sit down on their couch as soon as they come home and let the cable TV wash over them.
Thinking, being active, and life without TV is something that most people could not handle. Talking about religion? No way! That's no PC. Talking about politics? You mean talking about who is going to be voted off Survivor right? Because voting isn't important to people.
I try never to say me too! but the guy is so right: I stopped watching TV three years ago and I don't really miss it. I watch a few DVDs on my PC but instead of wasting 3 or 4 hours every day doing nothing, I learn, I read, I play (Go for example!) It won't bring you a GF or friends, but it's better than doing nothing in your life.
This is the wrong way to get around this problem. I say a boycott after the deadline would be far more effective. If nobody purchased a tv tuner after the deadline, that would speak volumes. It would have be a very organized protest, but with enough attention, it could work.
Is there a chance this will go the same way as DVD region-protection?
You mean in active use right? Because most DVDs I run into are region encoded. You know that most people don't know what region encoding is right? You know that most people don't give a shit either right?
They put in their DVD that they bought at Target/Walmart for $9.97 and they watch it. Region encoding doesn't affect them any so they just don't care.
They aren't going to care about HDTV broadcast flags either because they just don't need to care about it. It won't affect them.
Yeah, the geeks/videophiles are going to be up in arms about it because they understand their rights and they want to exercise them. The general public, OTOH, just wants to be blissfully unaware.
At first filesharing and music swapping was for geeks. No one outside of geekdom knew much about it. Look at it now, AOL users are doing it (HA!). The general public has gone from seeing it as a small group of p1r8t3s stealing music, to some sort of Robin Hood analogy fighting the RIAA.
I can't see HDTV DRM being much different. Tivo modifications are not uncommon, I even saw a few how-to books for it at B&N last week. Eventually consumers will clue in and WANT to record HDTV, legally, like they do now with NTSC and a VCR.
The only difference with HDTV is that it is almost being forced out to consumers where Mp3's, DVD's and CD's were slowly introduced and adapted. Even my friends who are usually early adopters haven't said a damned thing about getting an HDTV card, decoder, or HDTV-ready TV. There has been very little chatter about this from the tech media. Yet, the broadcasters, electronic makers,and the government have already started tossing around legislation for HDTV. The point is that DRM is being forced on consumers, so is HDTV.
You have to trick consumers into buying what you want them to buy and the current HDTV and DRM crowds are not being that subtle. Consumers will be revolting ('well mostly they're just rude') as soon as this crap starts to complicate what used to be a simple task.
How about that technologies like these let people spend less time watching TV and pick out those few shows that _are_ worth watching without being force to adapt their lives to the networks schedules?
PVR technology is a good thing for both people who watch a lot of TV and those who only watch a little.
No. The general public has gone from not seeing it to seeing the way they see any pervasive and widespread crime almost equivilant to speeding: They don't care.
There's also the option of not buying into HDTV. That has worked enormously well for most North Americans so far, to the point where deadlines for phasing in HDTV and phasing out analog have been pushed back, and people continue to not run out and buy overpriced new TVs that support it.
I watch a lot of TV, but ss nice as HDTV surely is, I can't say that I miss not having it.
" By 1:00AM on July 1st someone will have hacked it."
And between the DMCA and INDUCE act they'll/we'll be carted off to jail (or sued the pants off by RIAA/MPAA/etc)
plus isn't it much better to NOT have such a fool restriction in place (and stop it before it comes into play) than it is to have to circumvent it later?
Do we want to have to have a "broadcastflagJon"?
e.
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The public always has a choice. People can refuse to buy a sub-standard product. Industry greed drives this silliness, let them kill themselves.
So... when the FCC declares analog broadcast waves dead, and every digital receiver legally manufactured has a broadcast flag, where's the choice then?
Sure, *I'll* be exercising the choice not to watch, as I already do, and perhaps you will as well. But for the millions who can't do without the real opiate of the masses....
Tweet, tweet.
There was a suggestion in Linux Magazine a month or so ago that it might be a good idea to buy one of these Linux cards if you wanted to be able to watch HDTV without worrying about the broadcast flag. I got myself two, and I'm very glad I did.
However, I wonder how long it will be before some assHatch^H^H^H^H^Hhole attempts to make it illegal even to own one of these devices...
Call me old fashioned, but I like a dump to be as memorable as it is devastating - Bender
How about keeping your opinions about what I do with my spare time to yourself? Or at least, don't be so superior about your decision not to watch it.
TV is a form of entertainment, no more or less a waste of time than watching movies, playing video games, reading or perusing the intraweb-- which all have their ratio of good-stuff-to-crap. If I want a way to record the Sopranos, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Strangers with Candy, Larry Sanders, King of The Hill, The Office etc. so I can watch them when I feel like it, then please stay out of it. Believe it or not, I can watch a couple hours of TV a day and still have time to ride my bike and hang out with friends.
my password is private, but unchanged.
Of course they don't "support it". They were all made before the law was passed. You can bet tho' the windows drivers+software will at some point be "upgraded" to support the flag. The whole point is that with an open source driver, even if the manufacturer put BF support in there, you could take it out.
tcboo
The first time people realise that now they arent gonna be able to tape survivor there's gonna be a big backlash. I just hope it doesnt come too late.
I can't. She's watching TV.
'Standards' in computing only impress those who are impressed by things like 'standards'.
I know I sometimes use IE to read Slashdot from work.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
--Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
The point is that with 90% of television, watching does nothing to improve you or the world. Think about the massive amount of time that is wasted by people watching that part of television.
I think it is rather odd, considering we all live just a short amount of time...
No, the grandparent didn't say watch less or watch quality TV. He stated it in black and white terms, as if you are either a zombie slave to the idiot box or you truly "live", talking politics with friends and taking nature strolls. Of course it's not healthy to watch TV seven hours a day, but it's equally unhealthy (and annoying) to do nothing but talk religion or politics with your friends or about hopes and fears with your spouse. But you can do all of those things and be a well-rounded person. I don't put down people who play games, watch sports or have a drink to unwind if that's what they like. It's all about moderation.
And yes, 90% of TV could be considered crap. But 90% of the web is crap. And music, and games, and movies, and plays and paintings and sculptures. There are a lot of crappy people out there, too. So what? Enjoy the good and enlightening and don't waste your time on the bad.
my password is private, but unchanged.