Needless to say, I cannot comment on the legal aspects of this case, but I can tell you that TiVo is going to do business as usual, and has lawyers who handle this sort of thing.
What I would most like to say is that we are thrilled with the general kind attitude towards TiVo on this forum. We consider the Linux community one of our our greatest assets.
Cheers to all, and thanks again. Richard Bullwinkle TiVo Webmaster
Howdy, At this point, TiVo only offers the ability to archive to VHS tape. In fact, we have two outputs on the receiver, and a tidy interface to make it easy. The problems with digital archiving are expense, and copyright issues. We tried to make TiVo a consumer device that Mom and Dad could use, and while the folks on/. are certainly capable of dealing with DAT tapes, and the expense therein, it would not have a broad-scale market appeal. As it is, we need to make our box less expensive -- not more so. Will we ever offer these options? Well, I hesitate to make "forward looking statements" about TiVo at this stage in our financial careers, but I would bet that someone will make the sort of device you describe. Broadband will happen, and it will be a part of Personal Television some day. Also, when copyright issues are settled, and prices are viable for recordable DVD, or whatever comes next, I would bet they become part of the Personal Television devices as well. I can tell you that TiVo has no immediate plans to incorporate such elements. Right now we provide for archiving to VCR, a device which most folks own already, and we use a standard analog modem, which is still the industry standard. I too look forward to the device you describe, but I cannot promise a date when such a thing will exist. Regards, Richard Bullwinkle TiVo Webmaster
Tivo runs Linux! But you don't have to be a TiVo customer to get the source code. If you want the TiVo modifications to the GNU code, send a check for $24.95 to: TiVo Attn: Richard Bullwinkle 894 Ross Drive Sunnyvale, CA 94089 Regards, Richard Bullwinkle TiVo Webmaster
>As you say, the offer is open to anyone, which is good. Are purchasers of the product notified of this in writing, as section 3b of the GPL requires?
Absolutely, in the manual.
>Of course, in due course someone will pay the $24.95 and put your changes up on the web themselves, as they have every right to do under the GPL. But it's a little exasperating that you can't be bothered to even make a token gesture of goodwill towards the people who wrote the kernel that gave you such a tremendous head start on your product.
Please, by all means, post away. As for the gestures of good will, and your feelings about the time and costs of the CDs, I only offer that we are a start-up company with fierce competitors, including WebTV, and we want to get a firm grip on our market before we tell everyone how we did it. We aren't quite ready to stop improving our system to take time to contribute to the betterment of our competitors. We are distributing our source changes, as required, but every moment that Dave is burning a CD is a moment that he ought to be compiling new enhancements.
I don't mean that we don't want to be active participants in the true community efforts surrounding Linux, but right now we're still trying to keep the lights lit.
As for your suggestions about the web distribution of the source, thanks for the input -- you have been heard. We are trying to solve several problems in this area right now, and we will probably release our source there in the future. For our first distributions, this method works just fine.
Cheers, and thanks for fighting the good fight,
Richard Bullwinkle TiVo Webmaster webmaster@tivo.com
We are distributing all our modifications to the Linux Kernel as part of the GPL on CD for $24.95. That covers the cost of the CD, shipping, and the time it takes my dear friend Dave to dupe the CDs.
We have no immediate plans to distrubute the code over the web, but will reconsider once we move our website to a more robust server in the near future.
On the CD you will find minor modifications to the Power PC kernel, v.2.24.
This is available to anyone, not just people who purchase the TiVo service.
Please email me if you have any questions.
Regards, Richard Bullwinkle TiVo Webmaster webmaster@tivo.com
Re:Are you sure you want to get excited about this
on
Digital VCRs
·
· Score: 4
Humm.
I have read most of the posts since folks on Slashdot first started praising and bashing us. I have found that responsible poster just ask before they flame!
For the record, TiVo does not upload any information about you or the shows you watch. All the math is done inside the box. We, along with our partners, are the only PTV company who has no plans for downloading Ads to the box, and we are the only PTV company who has a Privacy Policy in black and white in our manual and on our website.
Now if you have questions about our intentions, just ask, but don't make things up. And yes, TiVo is proud to use Linux at our core.
For recording, TiVo works much like a regular VCR if you disconnect the phone line. You tell it the time, channel, and quality, and it records a show. You will still have all the pause, frame-forward and back, fast-forward and back and slow motion features in live tv.
However, without dialing in, the box won't know what shows are coming on or when, so the shows won't be labeled and you won't have any information on them. And if the networks move the show, the box won't know.
I have heard of customers who plug the phone line in, get the data, and then un-plug for a while. The TiVo downloads 14 days in advance, so the occasional download works well for people with RVs and shortage of phonelines.
We will not collect or store information about you if you opt-out. Don't try to over analyze the TiVo Privacy Policy. We created it to protect you.
TiVo has been very forth coming about privacy, and we are trying to make your television experience better, while also making a buck.
The ways folks sometimes choose to weasel words has made people paranoid and angry. If you opt-out of participating in TiVo's aggregated information process, then your data stays on your box. THAT'S IT.
We are trying to create a better television experience for you, much the same way Amazon.com suggests books. "People who watched Simpsons also watched South Park." This is all aggregate data used to make aggregate suggestions. Nothing about you personally is in the equation.
We would like to suggest shows you might like to you, and suggest better ways to make shows to the networks.
In other words, we here your concerns about privacy, and we are working very hard to clarify our Privacy Policy to make you completely comfortable, but in the mean time, don't make things up. An opt-out is an opt out. And if you opt-out of participating in TiVo's aggregate data calculations, NOTHING ABOUT YOU OR THE SHOWS YOU WATCH EVER LEAVES YOUR TIVO BOX.
Nope, no trade secrets here. TiVo is Linux at it's core. No SCSI inside. Big drives, PPC chip, MPEG encoder/decoder, and some voodoo to make it all come together.
Slashdot Mirror
Needless to say, I cannot comment on the legal aspects of this case, but I can tell you that TiVo is going to do business as usual, and has lawyers who handle this sort of thing.
What I would most like to say is that we are thrilled with the general kind attitude towards TiVo on this forum. We consider the Linux community one of our our greatest assets.
Cheers to all, and thanks again.
Richard Bullwinkle
TiVo Webmaster
Howdy, At this point, TiVo only offers the ability to archive to VHS tape. In fact, we have two outputs on the receiver, and a tidy interface to make it easy. The problems with digital archiving are expense, and copyright issues. We tried to make TiVo a consumer device that Mom and Dad could use, and while the folks on /. are certainly capable of dealing with DAT tapes, and the expense therein, it would not have a broad-scale market appeal. As it is, we need to make our box less expensive -- not more so. Will we ever offer these options? Well, I hesitate to make "forward looking statements" about TiVo at this stage in our financial careers, but I would bet that someone will make the sort of device you describe. Broadband will happen, and it will be a part of Personal Television some day. Also, when copyright issues are settled, and prices are viable for recordable DVD, or whatever comes next, I would bet they become part of the Personal Television devices as well. I can tell you that TiVo has no immediate plans to incorporate such elements. Right now we provide for archiving to VCR, a device which most folks own already, and we use a standard analog modem, which is still the industry standard. I too look forward to the device you describe, but I cannot promise a date when such a thing will exist. Regards, Richard Bullwinkle TiVo Webmaster
Tivo runs Linux! But you don't have to be a TiVo customer to get the source code. If you want the TiVo modifications to the GNU code, send a check for $24.95 to: TiVo Attn: Richard Bullwinkle 894 Ross Drive Sunnyvale, CA 94089 Regards, Richard Bullwinkle TiVo Webmaster
Sometimes people spend so much time wondering what the policies are, that they forget to ask.
TiVo will send ANYONE who requests our changes to the Linux modules a CD for a charge of $24.95.
If you are intereseted, please send email to me.
Regards,
Richard Bullwinkle
TiVo Webmaster
webmaster@tivo.com
Comments Below:
>As you say, the offer is open to anyone, which is good. Are purchasers of the product notified of this in writing, as section 3b of the GPL requires?
Absolutely, in the manual.
>Of course, in due course someone will pay the $24.95 and put your changes up on the web themselves, as they have every right to do under the GPL. But it's a little exasperating that you can't be bothered to even make a token gesture of goodwill towards the people who wrote the kernel that gave you such a tremendous head start on your product.
Please, by all means, post away. As for the gestures of good will, and your feelings about the time and costs of the CDs, I only offer that we are a start-up company with fierce competitors, including WebTV, and we want to get a firm grip on our market before we tell everyone how we did it. We aren't quite ready to stop improving our system to take time to contribute to the betterment of our competitors. We are distributing our source changes, as required, but every moment that Dave is burning a CD is a moment that he ought to be compiling new enhancements.
I don't mean that we don't want to be active participants in the true community efforts surrounding Linux, but right now we're still trying to keep the lights lit.
As for your suggestions about the web distribution of the source, thanks for the input -- you have been heard. We are trying to solve several problems in this area right now, and we will probably release our source there in the future. For our first distributions, this method works just fine.
Cheers, and thanks for fighting the good fight,
Richard Bullwinkle
TiVo Webmaster
webmaster@tivo.com
Hmm, enough mis-information from you!
Try this:
We are distributing all our modifications to the Linux Kernel as part of the GPL on CD for $24.95. That covers the cost of the CD, shipping, and the time it takes my dear friend Dave to dupe the CDs.
We have no immediate plans to distrubute the code over the web, but will reconsider once we move our website to a more robust server in the near future.
On the CD you will find minor modifications to the Power PC kernel, v.2.24.
This is available to anyone, not just people who purchase the TiVo service.
Please email me if you have any questions.
Regards,
Richard Bullwinkle
TiVo Webmaster
webmaster@tivo.com
Humm.
I have read most of the posts since folks on Slashdot first started praising and bashing us. I have found that responsible poster just ask before they flame!
For the record, TiVo does not upload any information about you or the shows you watch. All the math is done inside the box. We, along with our partners, are the only PTV company who has no plans for downloading Ads to the box, and we are the only PTV company who has a Privacy Policy in black and white in our manual and on our website.
Now if you have questions about our intentions, just ask, but don't make things up. And yes, TiVo is proud to use Linux at our core.
Richard Bullwinkle
TiVo Webmaster
>>The TiVo downloads 14 days in advance
>This is a lie.
Nope, it's not, but I'm putting my name on my posts, so I guess that makes the conversation a little one sided, doesn't it?
It's right here on our website:
http://www.tivo.com/what/faq_sub.html#q12
Look, I'm all for open discussion of this, or any other technology. I only correct misinformation, and answer questions, and I do so honestly.
Any other questions?
Richard Bullwinkle
TiVo Webmaster
webmaster@tivo.com
For recording, TiVo works much like a regular VCR if you disconnect the phone line. You tell it the time, channel, and quality, and it records a show. You will still have all the pause, frame-forward and back, fast-forward and back and slow motion features in live tv.
However, without dialing in, the box won't know what shows are coming on or when, so the shows won't be labeled and you won't have any information on them. And if the networks move the show, the box won't know.
I have heard of customers who plug the phone line in, get the data, and then un-plug for a while. The TiVo downloads 14 days in advance, so the occasional download works well for people with RVs and shortage of phonelines.
Hope this answers your question.
Richard Bullwinkle
TiVo Webmaster
We will not collect or store information about you if you opt-out. Don't try to over analyze the TiVo Privacy Policy. We created it to protect you.
TiVo has been very forth coming about privacy, and we are trying to make your television experience better, while also making a buck.
The ways folks sometimes choose to weasel words has made people paranoid and angry. If you opt-out of participating in TiVo's aggregated information process, then your data stays on your box. THAT'S IT.
We are trying to create a better television experience for you, much the same way Amazon.com suggests books. "People who watched Simpsons also watched South Park." This is all aggregate data used to make aggregate suggestions. Nothing about you personally is in the equation.
We would like to suggest shows you might like to you, and suggest better ways to make shows to the networks.
In other words, we here your concerns about privacy, and we are working very hard to clarify our Privacy Policy to make you completely comfortable, but in the mean time, don't make things up. An opt-out is an opt out. And if you opt-out of participating in TiVo's aggregate data calculations, NOTHING ABOUT YOU OR THE SHOWS YOU WATCH EVER LEAVES YOUR TIVO BOX.
Sincerely,
Richard Bullwinkle
TiVo Webmaster
TiVo is a Linux box.
-Richard Bullwinkle
TiVo Webmaster
Nope, no trade secrets here. TiVo is Linux at it's core. No SCSI inside. Big drives, PPC chip, MPEG encoder/decoder, and some voodoo to make it all come together.
-Richard Bullwnkle
TiVo Webmaster