May 22, 2005

This broadcast is copyright protected for your viewing frustration

This Engadget post pretty much sums it up. Flitter on over there if you wish to voice your concern about the way broadcast companies view your rights. Up until this point no one's really cared about your ability to tape a show onto VHS, but now that people are copying TV shows on to their computers and allowing people to access them over the internet they've become a little more vocal about their intellectual property. Cry me a river, bitches! It's bad enough people are making money on the tripe that passes for entertainment these days, but to then try to limit the end user's ability to view the show after the fact simply because they can edit out the commercials? I know that's how they make their money, but since the broadcast has already been completed don't you think it would be kind of stupid for someone a year later to see that commercial again on a Simpsons episode they downloaded off the internet? I know Fox won't be making a whole bunch of money off of that year old Chex Mix commercial... And besides, the advertising air time has already been purchased by the time the damn thing's been aired and the next airing of that episode isn't for another year or more anyway. Let the people have what they want!

2 comments:

tammo21 said...

first of all, HDTV sucks. Second of all, when you go digital, you are going to encounter digital protections. You can't protect an analog broadcast stream, and since the majority of americans do not yet have HDTV, along with people like me who think it is the stupidest invention since wheat bread, if you get HDTV, that's just something you have to deal with. Broadcasters take a gamble when they broadcast in analog that you are going to watch the show and the commercials. With digital, they have a hand in it and it's natural that they'd do everything they can to protect their investment.

Daddoooo said...

I agree with you on protecting their investment. The problem is the broadcasters don't care about the end user so long as their ratings are good because ratings are what justifies their advertising pricing. They'll do whatever it takes to make damn sure you're going to watch those commercials, even if that watching is at 2-8x the speed.

What makes you think HDTV sucks?