Attempt to Kill TiVO/Recording and Time Switching by Congressional Legislation

They only need votes from their districts. Most Americans are oblivious to this type of thing. As long as their cable/satillite box turns on they’re happy. Most of us that enjoy/follow technology often forget that we’re in a small minority. Most of the people I know have no idea what a TIVO really does.

I have a DVR supplied by my cable company. Right now, I can keep any program I record on it for as long as I like. One of the proposals out there is to limit how long programs will stay recorded, even if unwatched. I travel a lot for business, sometimes gone for two weeks or more. If they start limiting my programs to less than a week, I’m screwed.

Paul: How’s this all for a restriction of freedoms issue? We went from unrestricted recording of anything for personal use 20 years ago when VCRs appeared to increasing Congressional restrictions (in this one case, a very staunch Repub who should be against gov intrusion into people’s lives. I guess only when they don’t interfere with freedom for businesses to make more money.) asked for by Hollywood on how, when and where we can record things which are either freely broadcast over the air or which we pay for via cable/satellite fees.

These morons say one thing to get voted and changes once they got elected and start to taking bribes. There should be recalls for these two!

Let us all get things straight here…. if everybody (I mean everybody) abided by the fair use doctrine, there wouldn’t need to be any new legislation or technology to enforce it (or something even more draconian)…

The fact is that digital technology DOES impact intellectual property, and can/does affect the revenue to the copywrite holders…

The problem with the non-hollywood (etc) types that say that the media business is infringing on their rights, is that they have NO real ideas on what to do about the problem. All these whiners have to say is what everybody else shouldn’t do (no copy protection, no usb keys, etc. etc.). And when current laws are enforced (ie: the grandmother whose PC is filled with pirated music), it gets turned around as the jack-booted authorities hurting a lilttle old lady….

So, you all want to complain about copy protection, what’s your alternative?

This is a response to comment #8 by “Lou.” Get your facts straight. You’ve obviously fallen victim to the media conglomerate propoganda. The entertainment industry estimates they lose *$3 billion* (gasp!) to “copyright infringement” each year. Wow. That’s a lot of money, and a huge problem that we need to do something about right now. Until you realize that in 2004, the entertainment industry took in *$525 billion*. By 2009, it’s estimated to grow to $690 billion. So they’re losing about one penny for every two dollars they take in. Do you really believe that justifies giving them control over how you’re able to use the technology you purchase? When you say that “The problem with these ‘non-Hollywood’ types is that they have NO real ideas on what to do about the problem,” you’ve bought into the media industry lie that a “problem” even exists. The only “problem” is that they don’t have absolute control over what you watch and how you choose to watch it. I don’t know whether you’re a schill for the entertainment industry, or simply completely ignorant of the facts, but to answer your question (because I do complain about copy protection, or anything that gives control over how I use technology that *I* purchase to an outside industry driven by abject greed), my alternative is to pass a law that protects consumers from these greedy control freaks. Or here’s another alternative: maybe Congress could do it’s job (protecting the interests of the public) instead of “protecting” whoever ponies up the right amount of cash to get their pet laws passed.

Conyers’ district for the most, isn’t very tech saavy (apologies to the exceptions). The district is just northwest of downtown Detroit, including Hamtown and Highland park. As Don stated above, these people will vote the incumbant every time; especially if there is that ‘D’ next to his name.

Also remember, these are the same voters that re-elected hizzoner, Kwame Kilpatrick.

>if police decided crime was too high and imposed a curfew. Perhaps they’d also stop people on the street at their whim and demand to see your papers.

That’s basically waht Giuliani did in New York. Stop and frisk searches, and a total crackdown on petty crimes like graffiti, subway jumping, and squeegee men.

I think Lou’s point is that people seem eager to allow for all sorts of illegal piracy and are coming up with excuses to defend it(I neef to be able to make some extra copies for myself, etc) If you’re going to mainstream criminal behavior, then you shouldn’t be surprised if it gets treated that way.