Could fast forwarding become illegal?
 

http://www.technologyreview.com/arti...904.asp?trk=nl

:hang:

yeah, and who the hell is going to know you fastforwarded through some commercials or not? even if such a retarded law passes, it's not enforcable.

No one. They plan on forcing electronic vendors to remove the ability from electronic devices.

they can't remove it from already existing devices. then there are always ways around it.

Remove the ability to fast-forward, and you remove the lure of recorded media. The industry will die.

They already have it to some extent on DVD's when you can't skip past certian parts of the beginnings.

It's fucking stupid. Land of the free, eh?

you can with DVD software on your computer.

Things (entertainment systems) are tending towards being all computer based. I know I'll probably never buy a DVD player because I can just connect my computer to my TV and watch them like that.

I'm pretty sure there will always be someone writing DVD/etc.. software that lets you fast forward.

and there will also always be someone willing to sue them

It will just give you more incentive to get off your fat asses and doing something else during the commercial break.

like taking a crap? and then mailing it to my local congressman!

Mailing crap is illegal

Yep, a free land where idiots like this can roam...

Do we still have the freedom to shoot these morons, though?

does this mean that blocking popups will become illegal as well.

Good point, deeder, but I don't think so, since they're on a seperate "stream". Blocking ads inside webpages I guess would count.

What kind of DVD software do you have? I have the one that comes with ATI video cards, and it can't skip past some parts.

power DVD is good. it lets me fast forward through the begining where comercials sometimes are.

PowerDVD does not allow skipping of the "Unskippable" logo/copyright notice bit at the beginning of DVDs, unless you've viewed the DVD before (in which case you can skip to where you left off).

Free DVD player Maximus DVD let you skip those sections, but it's long-since died. I wouldn't be surprised if mplayer let you do that, but the windows version is still a bit shaky.

Here's proof of what the industry is trying to do:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/1....ap/index.html

"Some skeptics also worry that TiVo's planned use of Macrovision Corp.'s new copy-protection scheme signals more boundaries on what shows they can or cannot record -- even as TiVo prepares to unveil a new service later this year, called TiVoToGo, that will let users record shows onto DVDs or transfer them to computers."

"A pop-up recording "tag" is also planned: a "thumbs-up" icon would appear during TV show promotions and allow users to instantly place those programs in their recording queue."

this what's going to be hurting TiVo and DVD recorders and may even revive good ol' VCRs a bit.

VLC lets you skip them too.

The windows version of mplayer is a bit shaky and the linux one requires divine intervention to get it to compile.

technically you are paying to have those ads pop up and download onto your computer. since it uses your bandwidth, that you pay for, to load those ads, technically it is an invasion of privacy. Since you pay for your bandwidth shouldn't you determine what downloads through it?

A similar argument could be made for television commercials and being able to fast forward through them. You are paying for the electricity it takes to display these advertisements in your home, since the advertisers are, in essence, stealing some of your electricity as well as increasing the amount of wear on your TV, VCR, etc., to display ads in your home that you do not wish to see, you should have the option to skip those ads if you so desire. If you boil it down, this is a privacy rights issue and could be considered unconstitutional.

I hope this bill dies a horrible burning death.

One could argue that you pay for the content, and that watching tv programs without the ads is stealing.

I mean if filesharing is...

Never used that, cheers for notification :)

are the ads part of the content? I don't have to watch anything I don't choose to watch, I pay to watch TV, in the form of cable, electricity, and equipment costs.

how is fast forwarding through ads any different than changing the channel when ads come on? should that be illegal too?



filesharing is copyright infringment, how is this related?

this is one reason i like having a somewhat older technology type tv(cheap tv i bought at wal mart).

Don't give them ideas! :p
I don't know about US TV but in germany the stations often run ads at the same time.
copyright infringement != theft

Ads are there to finance the content. If you fast forward or change the channel the poor artists get nothing and have to go to bed hungry, same as when you download music without paying for it.

DVD Shrink just lets me take the whole movie, remove all freaking protection and place it on another.

I could care less what they do with the new technologies. If they take away rights I've had since the birth of recording I will not buy their product and will have nothing to do with their company.

I was able to record in the 8-Track days, cassette days, VHS, DAT, compact discs and DVD. Since the ability to home record has existed for over 30 years and their industry profits more and more every year it's a clear sign that having that ability aint putting anyone out of business.

But the entertainment industry wants total control. They want everything they have rights on to be a pay-per-view or pay-per-listen system. Pay to listen to the radio, pay to watch TV, pay to watch movies....it's been building for years. There was at one point a disposable CD designed that would play X amount of times and then bascially be used up. Never heard what became of it though.

If you mean disposable DVDs, the system was called DIVX.

A group of hackers later used the (slightly altered) name for their cracked MS video codec.

That depends on what you share. For example, what if you decide to share a document program you created yourself, or how about a photo you took yourself that you want to share with all netizens(e.g.: the communities at Webshots)?

Pure BULLSHIT! You paid for the DVD. You should get to decide what you see. You paid for the DVD, VHS tape, or recorded it off your TV. You should get to decide what you see.

What's next, requiring premium movie channels to run commercials?

this makes for a poor argument again as the advertisers already paid for the ads to be displayed so the "poor" artists already got paid regardless of whether or not I watch the commercials. the advertisers bought the commercial time knowing full well that it takes nothing more than a simple push of a button for me or you to avoid watching their advertisments.

if this law passes, I can see the price of airtime going up as it's now a more captive audience, though at the same time it's a much more pissed off audience. I think forcing people to sit through commercials against their will is a good way to make a negative impression of your company in their minds.

They really don't seem to care what impression they make, as long as they do leave one.

Apparently the theory goes that that way you subconsciously remember their brand name and choose their product.

Otherwise there'd be no way to explain pop up ads or those ultra annoying radio commercials that just repeat the same phrase over and over (don't know if you get these as well).

I love my powerDVD 5 platinum combined the finest region/disc limitation cracking software on earth, DVD-region free. It doesn't need firmware updates and it also disables macrovision. A must have.
I guess I'm breaking the forming rules and farting directly in the face of aol time warner by posting a link to the company providing this fine soluion
http://www.dvdidle.com/dvd-region-free.htm

$39.95?

Both VLC and (afaik) mplayer ignore the region code.

Damnit, I know where this bullcrap is gonna go. Next thing you know, there will be commerical breaks in the movie theatre.

Too late, cyu.

I don't care about product placement in shows or films as long as it's not obnoxious and doesn't detract from the story.

I haven't paid for my copies of neither PowerDVD or DVD Region Free

mplayer as a DVD-player is no fun at all. Have you seen all those expensive features of the full PowerDVD player? Dolby Headphone, DTS, EagleVision etc? Do you know what it's like to whatch a DVD on another program after testing PowerDVD? I telll you, it's like shit.