It seems to me that the service is what is Replay and Tivo hope to abuse. I'm sure it will only get worse as they know they have you hooked once you buy a unit.
I think a good project might be for the linux/pvr crowd to get involved with TVGuide. If TVGuide (maybe they already do - I don't know), were to offer a dial-in or broadband subscription service, I imagine it wouldn't take much to re-point the Replay to download the programming from them. Maybe you could even download to PC and then on to the Replay.
As a matter of fact, at that point why even use the Replay, as many have said the service is what makes the thing useful so once you have an alternative way to get programming, your PC would do just as well.
It would seem to me that if you do NOT agree to the terms of Replay's service, then you would be free to choose your own service. Obviously they *will* sell you the unit without the service knowing that you have nowhere else to go anyway. But their sale of the unit without the service seems to imply that you can choose your own. The fact that you are free to not agree to their service but are still able to keep/use the box also seems to imply that you can go find your own service. (IANAL) I would say that TV listings are not an essential part of the system in that they are not unique to Replay, there are lots of TV listings providers. Much like the MS/IE bundling issue that basically says there is competition for this browser and MS used it's position unfairly to force it browser to the top, I think a similar arguement can be made for the RePay/TV listing service. They are tying their specific hardware/os to a non-specific service to eliminate your choice. I think that can be beaten.
This is exactly the case. I have searched for certain songs on the web and it takes an eternity (Napster aside) to find one, jump through all the hoops to get at it and then finally download the damn thing. After all that sometimes what you get is crap because it 's distorted or recorded at a lousy bitrate. I would gladly shell out 10 cents a copy from a legit site. Hell at a cost like that I wouldn't worry about corrupted or lost files. As it is now, if I lose a CD or it gets scratched I DON'T buy another one. I borrow a friends and copy it. Now if it was cheap enough, if I lost the music files, I'd go back and buy them again. If songs were as cheap as gum balls, we wouldn't be hearing about this piracy BS in the first place.
The primary problem is that the RIAA can't get past it's own greed. It'll spend more money than it 'll make to prtoect that $15 CD profit.
The same rules that make Linux free and available to people who will promote it are the same rules that allow people to exploit it. Is it wrong? It sure is. But there will *always* be people who exploit a good thing for their own gain. Let the players take care of LinuxOne and let us move on already. There's too much good stuff going on with Linux to waste energy swatting away the flies.
Maybe more people need to join the ACLU. Anyway, the ACLU web site indicates that there is a bill working its way through the system that addresses forfeiture of property based solely on government suspicion of wrong doing. The url is: http://www.aclu.org/action/assets106.html HR 1658 is the bill. Apparently it has gone through the House but not the Senate. I'm neither o lawyer nor a politician, but it seems to me the mere existence of this bill could be used by Mr. Ramsey's lawyer to try to get his stuff back and at least keep his business going. Don't flame me if I'm off tartget here just let me know where I'm off target.
PS: I'm interested in this stuff mostly because I see a trend with the government becoming increasingly heavy handed in issues that don't really warrant it.
For instance I'm currently involved in a situation in Pennsylvania revolving around a simple dog license. Back in September my then roommate received a citation for not having a current dog license. The only problem was that the dog he got the citation over wasn't his, it was mine. He told the officer he didn't own or provide care for the dog and even went as far as calling me at work and putting me on the phone with this guy. The officer didn't care and wrote him the citation anyway. Well along with the citation he left a mail in card and some pamphlets about rabies (he told me dogs are supposed to have rabies shots every year. I checked with the vet and it's more like every three or four). Any way, I left work early, bought a license, and sent in the card. My roommate and I figured that the case was closed or that at least we'd get a letter saying it wasn't. Months passed by and my roommate moved out. Now just a week ago, a constable shows up at my door with an arrest warrant for my roommate for failure to respond to a citation. I told the guy it was my dog and that since the citation didn't have a monetary amount on it we weren't sure how to respond to it (I told him about the card I mailed in and how I thought that tied to the citation). He seemed sympathetic and told me to go to the magistrate and explain this mix up. Well when I went down they were as beligerent and as nasty as they could be about this. I was told I couldn't ask for a hearing because I wasn't named on the citation. I asked the clerk for a copy of the letter was sent out. She asked what letter. I replied that the constable said that certified letters are usually sent if someone doesn't respond to a citation. She replied, "we don't send letters." I told here I wasn't contesting any guilt that I was willing to pay the fine. She said I had to pay the fine and the constable costs. I refused stating that a simple letter could have prevented this. She replied then the only way to solve this if for my roommate to show up. At this point I have lost contact with him and have no idea how to reach him to let him know he's got a warrant on his head for my dog.
What pisses me off is that at any time, 1) The dog officer could have given some instruction on how the card and the citation were or were not connected and what to do. I called his office to ask him what I need to do with the citation the day after I mailed the card. He never returned the call.
2) for thirty-two cents and five minutes of time the magistrate's office could have sent a letter. (I have received letters before about failure to respond issues) I would have even accepted an addition five bucks for time and resources to type the stupid letter.
From talking to the constable, I found out he has a bunch of warrants for people in my area for the same thing. Apparantly I wasn't the only one confused by the citation and the card.
This was all the result of a dog enforcement sweep that went through the area. I really wish I was here that day because I strongly suspect it was a door to door search. My roommate told me they showed up with four of five trucks to take dogs. Talk about overkill.
BTW - I live in a very quiet part of a college town. Just so you know the mentality around here. Our township adopted an ordinance that requires cats to be kept on leashes when they are outdoors. Cats for god's sake.
Sorry for being long winded, I just wanted to give background.
Like the bullies in grade schools, a person has to decide if it's worth fighting for or not. It's totally an individual perspective issue. This is the same government that has always been. They've just gotten a lot more slippery. They've learned that most people can't afford to fight because of money or time. If we REALLY think this is such a travesty to freedom, we should put our money where our mouth is and fight. Otherwise let's save the impotent kaffe klatch b.s. about how bad the world is. Instead of this/. effect maybe we should have a/$ effect. Anytime we hear about shit like this going on, we each send $50 to the ACLU or some other group that fights the man. Even if our side doesn't win, we get the satisfaction of irritating the powers with lawsuits. Hell, that's how they keep us in line. Let's turn the tables.
Firstly, I have no problem with people fishing for survival or at least it it's as sport eating what they catch. However, I'm don't support people who fish and then glue the thing to a board like it's some big deal that they managed to (barely) outwit a fish. So here you use this forum to call the people at PETA pests because they don't want you to bother the fish well I contribute to those pests on occasion and if they get on the nerves of people like you I'll consider the money well spent. Humans cause each other enough misery on this planet, I'm all for leaving the animals out of it.
BTW - ever bite down on one of those hooks of yours? You know, just to know what it's like? I bet you don't have the guts to do what you think is no big deal.
Last point - most prisoners are well cared for too. Ask them if they like being where they are.
Firstly, I have no problem with people fishing for survival or at least it it's as sport eating what they catch. However, I'm don't support people who fish and then glue the thing to a board like it's some big deal that they managed to (barely) outwit a fish. So here you use this forum to call the people at PETA pests because they don't want you to bother the fish well I contribute to those pests on occasion and if they get on the nerves of people like you I'll consider the money well spent. Humans cause each other enough misery on this planet, I'm all for leaving the animals out of it. BTW - ever bite down on one of those hooks of yours? You know, just to know what it's like? I bet you don't have the guts to do what you think is no big deal.
Last point - most prisoners are well cared for too. Ask them if they like being where they are.
I hope these kids can know that there are adults who know what they're going through. I'm thirty now and I can still remember my high school times. They sucked, but now they're just memories and the jocks and cheerleaders who were so popular and peeked in high school are mostly losers now. Time will swing to your side kids you just have to keep your wits until then. High scool is itself a lesson. It's a lesson in socialization, in endurance, in tolerance. If you can deal successfully with the assholes and bureaucratic b.s. in high school, you'll be set for life and things will be easier to take.
This may sound really lame, but it's the best advice I could think of. Your going through tough times and there are people who understand.
Slashdot Mirror
It seems to me that the service is what is Replay and Tivo hope to abuse. I'm sure it will only get worse as they know they have you hooked once you buy a unit.
I think a good project might be for the linux/pvr crowd to get involved with TVGuide. If TVGuide (maybe they already do - I don't know), were to offer a dial-in or broadband subscription service, I imagine it wouldn't take much to re-point the Replay to download the programming from them. Maybe you could even download to PC and then on to the Replay.
As a matter of fact, at that point why even use the Replay, as many have said the service is what makes the thing useful so once you have an alternative way to get programming, your PC would do just as well.
It would seem to me that if you do NOT agree to the terms of Replay's service, then you would be free to choose your own service. Obviously they *will* sell you the unit without the service knowing that you have nowhere else to go anyway. But their sale of the unit without the service seems to imply that you can choose your own. The fact that you are free to not agree to their service but are still able to keep/use the box also seems to imply that you can go find your own service. (IANAL) I would say that TV listings are not an essential part of the system in that they are not unique to Replay, there are lots of TV listings providers. Much like the MS/IE bundling issue that basically says there is competition for this browser and MS used it's position unfairly to force it browser to the top, I think a similar arguement can be made for the RePay/TV listing service. They are tying their specific hardware/os to a non-specific service to eliminate your choice. I think that can be beaten.
--Paul
This is exactly the case. I have searched for certain songs on the web and it takes an eternity (Napster aside) to find one, jump through all the hoops to get at it and then finally download the damn thing. After all that sometimes what you get is crap because it 's distorted or recorded at a lousy bitrate. I would gladly shell out 10 cents a copy from a legit site. Hell at a cost like that I wouldn't worry about corrupted or lost files. As it is now, if I lose a CD or it gets scratched I DON'T buy another one. I borrow a friends and copy it. Now if it was cheap enough, if I lost the music files, I'd go back and buy them again. If songs were as cheap as gum balls, we wouldn't be hearing about this piracy BS in the first place.
The primary problem is that the RIAA can't get past it's own greed. It'll spend more money than it 'll make to prtoect that $15 CD profit.
My $.02
Paul
The same rules that make Linux free and available to people who will promote it are the same rules that allow people to exploit it. Is it wrong? It sure is. But there will *always* be people who exploit a good thing for their own gain. Let the players take care of LinuxOne and let us move on already. There's too much good stuff going on with Linux to waste energy swatting away the flies.
Paul
Maybe more people need to join the ACLU. Anyway, the ACLU web site indicates that there is a bill working its way through the system that addresses forfeiture of property based solely on government suspicion of wrong doing. The url is: http://www.aclu.org/action/assets106.html
HR 1658 is the bill. Apparently it has gone through the House but not the Senate. I'm neither o lawyer nor a politician, but it seems to me the mere existence of this bill could be used by Mr. Ramsey's lawyer to try to get his stuff back and at least keep his business going. Don't flame me if I'm off tartget here just let me know where I'm off target.
PS: I'm interested in this stuff mostly because I see a trend with the government becoming increasingly heavy handed in issues that don't really warrant it.
For instance I'm currently involved in a situation in Pennsylvania revolving around a simple dog license. Back in September my then roommate received a citation for not having a current dog license. The only problem was that the dog he got the citation over wasn't his, it was mine. He told the officer he didn't own or provide care for the dog and even went as far as calling me at work and putting me on the phone with this guy. The officer didn't care and wrote him the citation anyway. Well along with the citation he left a mail in card and some pamphlets about rabies (he told me dogs are supposed to have rabies shots every year. I checked with the vet and it's more like every three or four). Any way, I left work early, bought a license, and sent in the card. My roommate and I figured that the case was closed or that at least we'd get a letter saying it wasn't. Months passed by and my roommate moved out. Now just a week ago, a constable shows up at my door with an arrest warrant for my roommate for failure to respond to a citation. I told the guy it was my dog and that since the citation didn't have a monetary amount on it we weren't sure how to respond to it (I told him about the card I mailed in and how I thought that tied to the citation). He seemed sympathetic and told me to go to the magistrate and explain this mix up. Well when I went down they were as beligerent and as nasty as they could be about this. I was told I couldn't ask for a hearing because I wasn't named on the citation. I asked the clerk for a copy of the letter was sent out. She asked what letter. I replied that the constable said that certified letters are usually sent if someone doesn't respond to a citation. She replied, "we don't send letters." I told here I wasn't contesting any guilt that I was willing to pay the fine. She said I had to pay the fine and the constable costs. I refused stating that a simple letter could have prevented this. She replied then the only way to solve this if for my roommate to show up. At this point I have lost contact with him and have no idea how to reach him to let him know he's got a warrant on his head for my dog.
What pisses me off is that at any time,
1) The dog officer could have given some instruction on how the card and the citation were or were not connected and what to do. I called his office to ask him what I need to do with the citation the day after I mailed the card. He never returned the call.
2) for thirty-two cents and five minutes of time the magistrate's office could have sent a letter. (I have received letters before about failure to respond issues) I would have even accepted an addition five bucks for time and resources to type the stupid letter.
From talking to the constable, I found out he has a bunch of warrants for people in my area for the same thing. Apparantly I wasn't the only one confused by the citation and the card.
This was all the result of a dog enforcement sweep that went through the area. I really wish I was here that day because I strongly suspect it was a door to door search. My roommate told me they showed up with four of five trucks to take dogs. Talk about overkill.
BTW - I live in a very quiet part of a college town. Just so you know the mentality around here. Our township adopted an ordinance that requires cats to be kept on leashes when they are outdoors. Cats for god's sake.
Sorry for being long winded, I just wanted to give background.
Check out this web site. If you think the US won't find a way to weasel this stuff into cars, you're wrong.
http://www.sema.org/faq/obdIII.html#whatisobd
Once the idea is laid down, it's only a matter of time.
Like the bullies in grade schools, a person has to decide if it's worth fighting for or not. It's totally an individual perspective issue. This is the same government that has always been. They've just gotten a lot more slippery. They've learned that most people can't afford to fight because of money or time. If we REALLY think this is such a travesty to freedom, we should put our money where our mouth is and fight. Otherwise let's save the impotent kaffe klatch b.s. about how bad the world is. Instead of this /. effect maybe we should have a /$ effect. Anytime we hear about shit like this going on, we each send $50 to the ACLU or some other group that fights the man. Even if our side doesn't win, we get the satisfaction of irritating the powers with lawsuits. Hell, that's how they keep us in line. Let's turn the tables.
Paul
Firstly, I have no problem with people fishing for survival or at least it it's as sport eating what they catch. However, I'm don't support people who fish and then glue the thing to a board like it's some big deal that they managed to (barely) outwit a fish. So here you use this forum to call the people at PETA pests because they don't want you to bother the fish well I contribute to those pests on occasion and if they get on the nerves of people like you I'll consider the money well spent. Humans cause each other enough misery on this planet, I'm all for leaving the animals out of it.
BTW - ever bite down on one of those hooks of yours? You know, just to know what it's like? I bet you don't have the guts to do what you think is no big deal.
Last point - most prisoners are well cared for too. Ask them if they like being where they are.
Paul
Firstly, I have no problem with people fishing for survival or at least it it's as sport eating what they catch. However, I'm don't support people who fish and then glue the thing to a board like it's some big deal that they managed to (barely) outwit a fish. So here you use this forum to call the people at PETA pests because they don't want you to bother the fish well I contribute to those pests on occasion and if they get on the nerves of people like you I'll consider the money well spent. Humans cause each other enough misery on this planet, I'm all for leaving the animals out of it.
BTW - ever bite down on one of those hooks of yours? You know, just to know what it's like? I bet you don't have the guts to do what you think is no big deal.
Last point - most prisoners are well cared for too. Ask them if they like being where they are.
Paul
I hope these kids can know that there are adults who know what they're going through. I'm thirty now and I can still remember my high school times. They sucked, but now they're just memories and the jocks and cheerleaders who were so popular and peeked in high school are mostly losers now. Time will swing to your side kids you just have to keep your wits until then. High scool is itself a lesson. It's a lesson in socialization, in endurance, in tolerance. If you can deal successfully with the assholes and bureaucratic b.s. in high school, you'll be set for life and things will be easier to take.
This may sound really lame, but it's the best advice I could think of. Your going through tough times and there are people who understand.
Paul