The state of TV: part deux

[*PORTHOS*]

OUTLAW REMOTE

By DON KAPLAN
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

November 18, 2004 -- CONGRESS is considering a law that could one day make it illegal to fast-forward through the commercials.
The provision is buried in an controversial copyright bill meant to keep people from downloading movies and music from the Internet ? and is suddenly stirring up trouble on its own.

The proposal started with the Hollywood lobby trying to prevent DVD makers from including technology that would allow people to skip through the promotional material that comes with movies at the beginning and end of DVD films.

But now lawmakers are realizing that the bill is written so loosely that it could make criminals out of viewers sitting at home who use a remote control to fast-forward past commercials. (The bill specifically allows people to fast-forward through parts of a movie if it is too gory or sexually explicit ? a right people already have, of course.)

"We are extremely concerned about the chilling effect that certain segments of this bill could have on future as well existing technology ? such as DVRs," said Jeff Joseph, a spokesman for the Consumer Electronics Association, which represents hardware manufacturers.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is also trying to block the bill, warning of the "implication that certain basic practices that consumers have enjoyed for years ? like fast-forwarding through advertisements ? constitute criminal copyright infringement."

Beltway insiders say that McCain and the bill's sponsors, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), are currently trying to "talk through" the trouble spots in the legislation, but Congress might try to push through the bill during the lame-duck session that began this week.

Calls to the Motion Picture Association of America were not returned yesterday.

Already DVR makers have caved in to the entertainment industry's dislike of giving home viewers the ability to skip commercials.

Last year, ReplayTv eliminated a button on its DVR that allowed users to eliminate commercials on their recordings altogether.

And yesterday, TiVo introduced a new function that would put a "billboard" featuring advertiser product information on a viewer's TV screen as they fast-forwarded through those advertiser's commercials.


[img]biggrin.gif[/img]

<font color="#cd6600" size="1">[ November 18, 2004 10:47 AM: Message edited by: *PORTHOS* ]</font>

[grail25]

please let me skip the ads if I don't want to see them...

[Moviemaniac4]

We can't escape..... [img]graemlins/grrr.gif[/img]

[Biomechanoid]

Fuckin Specter

[grail25]

The more I think about it, the more I think that the Aztec (or what it the Maya) are right when they said the end of the worl would be on 2012...

[Andyman]

This thread was brought to you by:

[Skull-n-Bones]

Yeah I remember that going on for a while.

Basically new technology complicates the laws and creates the need for new laws..

The feds still don't know what to do about the internet...They are making feeble tries to regulate it, but c'mon...does everything have to be regulated?

[0193081]

Makes perfect sense to me.

Without ads, TV would collapse.

Advertisers pay good money to air their ads. If they know nobody is watching them, they'll just drop the ads.

Drop the ads, no more money for TV stations. TV stations go bye-bye.

[Biomechanoid]

Network or over-the-air "free" tv works like that, cable and satellite do not. If you're paying $40+ to watch tv, why the hell do they need advertisers?

[DARTH POOH]

This can't work.. too many people would bitch.
Can you imagine having to watch an add for a
film that's now 3 years old EVERY time you put
on a DVD? If they came up with a technology that made it so a person was required to watch the ad once, say..in order to get veiwing priveledges of the DVD, that would be repulsive enough, but tolerable. But I have videos that I re-watch, and I'll be damned if I want to see an add for
"Dumb and Dumber" every feckin' time I play the video.
And as far as TV goes..I will forever love and freely use my 'mute' button. [img]biggrin.gif[/img] This is the kind of shit that just makes me want to find ways around it just to rebel. [img]graemlins/devil.gif[/img]