Wow, isn't modern technology great. I still have all those old episodes on VHS tape. Granted, they're getting a bit scratchy, but it isn't DRM that is deleting them. My old VHS tape player also lets me fast forward past those stupid FBI warnings, something you can't do with a new fangled DVD player.

Technology gives the impression of moving forward, but there is a lot of retrograde movement too. In the old days, the magic of radio, or television, let you be there live. You could see the inauguration, the victory march, the royal wedding, even the opening ceremonies of the Olympics games live and in your own living room. Now, DRM technology makes this impossible, unless you hack around it.

Who knows what DRM will offer us next? Perhaps one of the stereo tracks will expire after a certain date. Who needs stereo sound anyway? Maybe the color will vanish when the company goes bankrupt. Who needs color when all the really great movies were in black and white anyway? Maybe the soundtrack will vanish completely. I told you that talkies were a fad.

I'm really looking forward to the future of media technology. It has so much to offer.

kaleberg

Messing with the Trekkies?! Are they mad? They're asking for a world of pain.

And since we're channeling Trek, with respect to those handful of powerful corporations which seek to control our access to information and culture: "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

Live long and - oh to hell with it.

robbo

There's no emoticon to express what I'm feeling!

strider_mt2k

Sounds like a screw up, even if they turned the flag on it wouldn't be for that short a period of time. More likely they would put it on a Payperview program or something limited like that, not a TV show with commercials.

Nick_Bentley

@davezatz:

From what I understand, they had to do all of that to get cablelabs certification.

lordargent

"the Galileo 7" = two thumbs up.

crikerat

I make many typos so know how annoying this may sound but "...since the TiiVo Copy Protection site..." should it be TiVo instead of TiiVo.

Yeebles

@Lux Aeterna: I think we can safely say that MythTV will *never* honor copyright "flags" from broadcasters.

At least, I hope not.

fpn1010

Wow. That's not very nice. I wouldn't be surprised if they turn this sort of thing on in a widespread fashion, some day soon.

wild homes loves you but chooses darkness!

I love TiVO, but Mythbuntu is looking better and better all the time!

SalParadise

It's usually a mistake by the cable company or broadcaster. However, sucks that TiVo even has this functionality built-in.

davezatz

Oh Hell to the No! It better not affect TNG or Voyager, cause then

@godwhacker: IT's ON Batches!

iFlingPoo

ONLY star trek, eh?

oh, it's on.....

godwhacker

This stuff can't affect things like MythTV or EyeTV, right?

Lux Aeterna

While I'm still convinced TiVo is the best DVR on the market (with respect to stability, usability, and aesthetics), I'm beginning to think I'd be better off building my own DVR once my subscription ends.

Paying ~$10 a month for:
  ~Copy Protection
  ~In-show Advertisements
  ~Obnoxious Banners

KRingg

Which is why i no longer use TiVo

dOk

@dOk: Well, my DirecTV DVR can auto-delete pay-per-view movies and I can't imagine this kind of crap won't happen to other programs eventually. It's definitely not just TiVo.

Auto-delete: Coming soon to a DVR near you.

AJ_Syrinx

Oh so THAT'S what it feels like to be smacked in the face by a DVR. I always did wonder what that would feel like.

cmantito

time to send a message to tivo...

we wont stand for a slippery slope.

knappoleon

@fpn1010:

Until some broadcaster sues Myth for copyright infringement.

Don't blame TIVO for the idiotic copyright laws we have in the US.

cowboyshootist

This shouldn't even be a feature in either TiVo or Windows Media Center. The FCC tried to enact the broadcast flag regulation but the courts shot it down on the basis that the FCC has no jurisdiction over copyright matters. In other words, TiVo and Windows Media Center are VOLUNTARILY obeying the broadcast flag.

WB

Typo -
"Typically, it's only used for their premium content (HBO, Spice, etc); but, the FCC has no authority to tell them they cannot, since cable is a private system and not free-to-air.

theDagda

The Broadcast Flag is not supposed to work with Free to Air TV, since the FCC's mandate on implementing it got slammed by a DC court several years back. If any broadcaster is using this, they are in violation (which is why they probably say it was an "accident").
[pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov]
pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/docs/common/opinions/200505/04-1037b.pdf

Cable systems are a different story however.
While they cannot make you pay extra for their re-broadcast of Free-To-Air TV (ie, anyone with basic cable and an HDTV can tune to the unencrypted HDTV broadcasts from the local affiliates), they do indeed impose copy restrictions on all their digital channels (and can use macrovision on the analog stuff). Typically, it's only used for their premium content (HBO, Spice, etc). Buy the FCC has no authority to tell them they cannot, since cable is a private system and not free-to-air.

theDagda

Some day these idiots will learn that this is the kind of crap that pushes people to pirate their content...

Honestly, you'd think that since the VHS time-shifting thins was decided by the courts decades ago that the same logic would apply to digital content. I can see prohibiting transfer to other media/devices, but who the hell should care that I want to wait a couple of weeks to watch it instead of a couple of hours.

PlayBoy channel has a 90 minutes delay or something like that. Very frustrating.

Time to start torrenting Star Trek...

distortedloop

@cowboyshootist: How would that even work? They haven't violated any copyright laws.

aqtrans

I had built my own PVR - Xandros MythTV, but I got tired of it as hulu.com is way better for me than recording shows and watching them later. :)

ggvrsn

GBPVR!!

philly_phenom

"(Thank God It Was Only Star Trek)"

GTFO Giz.

xacked

Just made a little edit on Buchanan's post to rectify his lousy opinions.

Jason Chen

@Jason Chen:

i think you should let him take the weight of his "lousy opinions"

just sayin

godwhacker

Dear Tivo,

Get a handle on this please. You want me to renew in 3 months when my contract is due for renewal don't you?

axiomatic

This is a cablecard problem, and a CCI byte set "incorrectly". Any device that uses cable cards would experience the same issue.

I have this "problem" because pretty much every show I want to record is encoded with a value that prevents me from using tivo to go to download the episode to my PC.

h0mi

All you have to do is buy a DVD recorder and put the DVR output into the DVD recorder. Then play the episode on the TV anbd hit record on the DVD. I have the dish DVR and do this all the time. I assume you could do the same with TiVO. When I had Tivo I used a program to unprotect it and turn it into an AVI file. Can't remember the name of that program but it was freeeware.

TamaraCabatan

I get NBATV via a $5 / month sports package, and I've noticed that EVERY game aired there does this. Did it all last season. The delete flag was very strict, too -- you could only watch it for something like an hour after it aired. Not much point to that. Could that possibly have been a glitch? I just figured it was an unfortunate and misguided decision.

TateSkylark

TiVo had nothing to do with this. The flag was sent by the source. TiVo is honoring the terms of owner of the DRM material. DRM is to blame. Digital flags and region codes have lead people to download the content they want. Allowing them to do what they want with the content wherever and whenever by means they choose.

Why do the entertainment companies invest so much in DRM when it is broken soon after it is released? DRM limits the consumer's options.

habanero