I'm a HUGE TiVo fan, but this is truly enough to make me not buy another TiVo. Basically, you can now no longer save some shows on TiVo for as long as you want -- Tivo erases them after an arbitrary "expiration." Imagine if files from iTunes did the same thing. It could be coming sooner than you think.
This isn’t TiVo, this is a requirement in the MacroVision license. TiVo licenses MacroVision - they MUST to support DVDs legally, and it is a business requirement to avoid problems over TiVoToGo. And without it you could kiss any chance of broadband content from any major provider goodbye.
TiVo is not alone - ReplayTV agreed to the same license year before TiVo, and other DVR vendors have as well. MacroVision support is very widespread.
You could build a MythTV or FreeVo box, but most people aren’t able to do that.
This isn’t new either, people erroneously seem to think it is new in 7.2. It just is very rarely used, and this seems like a glitch - the flag was either erroneously set, or it was noise in the VBI that matched the flag values.
In some ways, you’re right—TiVo is implementing a MacroVision requirement.
In a more important way, you’re wrong—this is happening on my TiVo.
Erroneously or not, TiVo has flagged shows to be deleted, even though there’s no legal reason to do so. And MacroVision business requirements or not, there’s no criminal behavior in taping a DVD, pay-per-view show or broadcast show. TiVo has chosen to restrict its own customers to kowtow to MarcoVision, and then apparently has done so in a way that is also glitchy. Hissssss, TiVo.
Posted by Travis Smith
at 5:08 pm on Sep. 13, 2005
Bugs happen in all software, that’s life. Making a big deal out of a glitch is unfair, they’re already investigating it and it will probably be fixed in the next update. Such is life.
As for the license in the first place - it is a business requirement. Not having the license would be business suicide for TiVo. Note that pretty much every recording device has a MacroVision license - VCRs, DVRs, DVD recorders. It is pervasive in the market. (All DVD systems MUST have one, it is required by the DVD Forum license.) As companies renew their licenses and need to accept the new terms they’ll do the same thing TiVo has to do. TiVo wasn’t the first to honor these restrictions and absolutely won’t be the last.
Like it or not, if you buy a commercial recording device you’ll probably see this - TiVo or not. The alternative is building your own.
You can scroll right easily by holding down the SHIFT key and using your scroll wheel. (Firefox users trying this will end up jumping to old Web pages until a) Firefox releases a fix, b) they change their settings like so.)
