"Do you like fast-forwarding through commercials on a television program you’ve recorded? How much do you like it? Enough to go to jail if you’re caught doing it? If a new copyright and intellectual property omnibus bill sitting on Congress’s desk passes, that may be the choice you'll face.

How can this be possible? Because language that makes fast-forwarding through commercials illegal—no doubt inserted at the behest of lobbyists for the advertising industry—was inserted into a bill that would allow people to fast forward past objectionable sections of a recorded movie (and I bet you already thought that was OK). And that’s but one, albeit scary, scenario that may come to pass if the Intellectual Property Protection Act is enacted into law. Deliberations on this legislation will be one of the tasks for the lame-duck Congress that commenced this week. "

Technology Review Article

This is ignorant. HOw would they know if I fast-forwarded thru a show in my own home?
Seriously this is the dumbest thing I have ever heard

This is spin (of a quite nasty variety)/

The feature that's being contended is not fast-forwarding; it is <i>automatic</i> commercial skipping, where the DVR itself figures out what are the commercials and skips throught them. ReplayTV used to have this feature, before it got slammed by lawsuits from TV companies.

Now, I don't like this law either, but before you slam the evil TV companies, consider this: the alternative to lobbying for a legislation that favors them would be to work with the DVR manufacturers to remove the feature, or to superimpose ads, etc. (after all, networks don't operate on charity). That would be construed as collusion under the Antitrust Law, and the netowrks would still be screwed.

In other words: government regulation begets government regulation. Before you push for any laws that benefit your cause, consider the unseen consequences.

Government control rocks power heard huh krem? :wink:

It blows monkey balls, actually.

hehe I know, I was being sarcastic bc i know how you feel about it

Whatever you do, don't do what I did and put "rocks power hard" into google and hit the "I'm feeling lucky" button

"Saw" reviews on BOM bother you that much? ;-)

you gave everyone the incentive here to do it.

lol now you said it, everyone is gonna do it. Funny stuff I must say.

I'm curious about this. What is the exact difference between automatic skipping commercials with Replay TV and fast-forwarding through commericals on a videotape? I mean, I know the technical differences, but that's not what I'm asking.

I mean -- I know when a commercials is coming up even when I am watching TV live. What if I go to the bathroom, or get something from the fridge, or hit the mute button, or change the channel? In that case, I detected a commercial, conciously chose not to view it, and avoided the commercial by a method of (low) technology. How is it different from what DVR does, in intent I mean? And the end result is the same no matter which technology you use: a commercial basically doesn't get its advertising money's worth out of me. If the end result is the same for all methods, why is one technical means subject to copyright law and the other is not? :?:

Is it because the viewer is choosing to skip commercials "in advance" instead of having "an opportunity" to view a commercial or something like that? And if it is, what if I decide in advance to do two-minute declutter blitzes during commercials (our family does that)? Isn't that "in advance" too?

Erendis, I think it has to do with "fair use" rights. You, as the end-user, have the right to do whatever you want with the product, as long as it's for your own private use.

Companies that distribute the content, do not necessarily have that right.

In this case the DVR manufacturer would fall into th latter category, and as such doesn't have the right to alter the broadcast.

Not that I agree with any of this.

Woot! Saw reviews on BOM rock!!

Power Hard!!

# 1 Who said you have rights ask RIAA and the MPAA what they think

# 2 Cable was a consipiracy to get us to PAY to watch commercials

# 3 TiVo screwed all their loyal "fans" too, now you will pay to watch the ads they pick for you

# 4 Movies that you PAY for now have ads right in the theater

# 5 DVDs that you BUY have ads for crap in the beginning

# 6 Its not your mind is it?

Heh. I really don't know what people are talking about with the Saw review stuff.

You'll figure it out, if you hit the "I feel lucky" button after you wrapped 'rocks power hard' into scary quotes (").

OH NOZ... ENTER T3H MATRI>< -_-

(side note: did anybody ever wonder if there were people in Zion who had picked internet nicks like JustinGRRRL232 or I<3Britney1004 or ScOoTeRpAnTz69 and then got sucked into the void of the real and now have to walk around with that as their primary identity!)

Ahh that's odd, never saw that. I was just making a dirty joke about what comes up when you do it sans quotes.

Stupidity-wise this comes close to the law that forbids having sex with Satan if you don't wear a condom. :?

Good one!