NBC Say Oops to Stopping DVR’s from Recording
DVR blogs like The Green Button were all abuzz about a possible power play by NBC and Microsoft to block viewers from recording NBC shows. Screen shots popped-up EngadgetHD and other sites with the prompt people got when they tried to record “American Gladiators” and “Medium” recently on their Vista Media Centers.
The background is that broadcasters can send a “flag” in the stream of information that is a digital television program that indicates whether or not the program can be recorded. In tracking down the cause of the block there’s some explaining that has to be done because the flags shouldn’t be there.
Microsoft acknowledged that Windows Media Centers will block users from recording TV shows at the request of a broadcaster The problem is that in 2005 the Electronic Frontier Foundation fought successfully in court (ALA v. FCC) to stop the use of these broadcast flags. Microsoft seems to put the broadcaster above the courts and the consumer.
Yesterday NBC Universal admitted that it “inadvertently” blocked some viewers from recording the shows. In an interview with CNet News.com, a NBC spokesperson said: “We made an inadvertent mistake. We’re not aware of any other complaints, and we believe we have addressed the problem.”
Although no other DVR manufacturer reported this same problem, the “mistake” shows us that the networks along with Microsoft or any other electronic manufacturers can flex if they want to. If they want you to not record a program or even not skip the commercials on your DVR, they can.
In an example of another power play, recently DirecTV announced that its subscribers would only have 24 hours to watch pay-per-view movies that they had recorded to their DVR’s. What they are saying is that the content, whether it on the DVR, cable box or anywhere else, isn’t yours. Choose your partners wisely.
Read the CNet story here & here.
Read the EFF story here.
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