Thursday, August 28, 2008

The VCR controversy returns

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10006580-93.html?tag=mncol

So I saw a report on this case in some industry magazine but the above story basically hits the same points.

Copyrights would cover the original content--i.e. a television show. However it seems the courts have upheld, starting with the Betamax Case, http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=CASE&court=US&vol=464&page=417 that VCRs and DVRs are okay for private use in the home. Apparently the court in the most recent case has determined there is essentially no difference between recording TV in the home or at an off-site location on the cable company's network.

Why should you care? It will make DVRs cheaper and may allow you to not even need a new cable box in your home. It should allow for access to your recorded TV from any TV in your home AND, down the line, should pave the way for access to your recorded TV from anywhere, on any device, including the internet.

Yep....you guessed it, I work for Charter Media, the Ad Sales/Production side of Charter Communications... Let me know if you've got any service problems...I'll get it fixed real quick. :)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That's a pretty interesting article, my wife and I want a DVR in our bedroom so this would be nice.

BTW we work for the same company (ironic we're in the same class), I work over at the Des Peres office. Small world, eh?