Why wait for Congress to do your dirty work when the content owners can recruit Macrovision to backdoor broadcast flag-like functionality without government bureaucracy and public scrutiny? While these restrictions aren’t new (or unique to TiVo), there still appears to be challenges in properly classifying content on TiVo units. I can envision current releases on HBO being flagged, but doubt this nearly 40-year old film was intended to be tagged. In fact, I believe Macrovision is only permitted to mark PPV and DVD content with copy/viewing limitations. TiVo, if you want to follow-up with this likely transmission glitch: John Campos, who provided these photos, was recording the Fox Movie Channel via Comcast in Seattle.
Macrovision copy protection rules include:
- Copy Never – This content is not allowed to be recorded by a TiVo DVR.
- 7 Day Unlimited – These programs can be recorded and viewed as many times as you like within 7 days of their original recording date
- 7 Day / 24 Hours – These programs can be stored for up to 7 days but once you begin watching the show, you must complete viewing within 24 hours.
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I generally feel unkind toward Tivo for rolling over and supporting this crap. Their excuse originally had something to do with having to agree to macro vision to make the combo DVD units but it never really made sense to me since it pollutes the stand alone as well. MCE supports this crap to. Replay didn't back in the day and of course MythTV is still a island where rampant IP control freaks can't harm and abuse the consumer at a whim, but cablelabs will be locking them out of the long game for sure.
Hey IP owners, guess what I payed for the dam content, it's on my closed proprietary Tivo box, now get the hell away from me, how I choose to enjoy it in my home and at my leisure is none of your goddam business and you have ZERO right to try dictate terms to me across my property line. And shame on Tivo and MS for rolling over on your true customers, the consumer.
None of this stuff is showing up on the DirecTivo units (yet). It was inevitable, though, that restrictions on recording and playback would come to PVRs. The IP holders have tremendous leverage. I think the battle is lost already. If you want to buy a consumer PVR device, you're going to have to deal with these restrictions.
With a pay channel the obvious recourse, if this starts happening for real, is to simply drop the channel. I wouldn't pay for HBO if I couldn't watch Entourage and Deadwood on my own time. Don't know how many drops that would be, but hopefully they'd notice. Suggest doing it the minute it happens and is confirmed by others on the boards as not just some glitch.