Tivo to strip features from its devices.

[electron]

Several news sites are reporting that Tivo is stripping some features and adding more restrictions.

Wired.com interview with the Tivo lawyers
Tivo agrees to restricting NFL game recordings

This is probably just the beginning as more and more broadcasters are interested in locking down content (HBO already announced it is going to lock down all of its programming), and more mobile devices are starting to support video playback.

 

[Squintz]

So what is the work around to this problem. There has to be one. Just because you cant use your tivo box to record the show or your comcast box doest mean you cant use your pc or something right?

 

[smee]

VCR [1]. Point camcorder at TV. Anything like that will probably always work.

Don't be surprised if the rights management stuff starts showing up more on PCs, too. Until they find a way to do it in hardware, though, someone will always find a work-around in software.

If I understood the TiVo stuff correctly, they are not talking about limiting your ability to record. They are limiting your ability to share (use the recording somewhere else) and limiting the time that the recording will remain on the TiVo. Of course, they may set the time that a pay-per-view can be stored to zero.

[1] Unless you are recording from a cable box or other device that includes macrovision.

 

[jrfuda]

There was an article in then Stereo Review (now Sound and Vision) a few years ago that propehsized an all digital future, where all devices and connections were digital - even your speakers. No analog connection to and from components and peripherals were allowed, and each piece checked to make sure you were allowed to listen to / watch whatever you were attempting to listen to / watch. I guess digital speakers would have their own amp inside a sealed box with one of those "no user serviceble parts inside" labels Like that's ever stopped us before!