AfterDawn: News

TVMyPod's pre-loaded iPods raise legal questions

A company called TVMyPod is raising legal questions by selling video iPods to its customers that are pre-loaded with TV shows or movies that the customer wants. The company can fill your iPod with content that is available to buy on DVD. After it has copied the content to the iPod, it sends it along with the original DVD to the customer. TVMyPod co-founder Vijay Raghavan said most people haven't got the time or technology to convert their movies and TV shows to put them on their iPods.

The vast majority of retail DVDs contain copy protection and under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) it is illegal to circumvent these protections. However, Raghavan insists that the company's methods to not use any decryption. He also commented that moving content to the device is a one way transfer and since the customer gets both the original and the copy, it is legal under the fair use provisions of the U.S. Copyright Act.



"It's kind of an obsolete law since Congress was not taking into consideration portability," Raghavan said. "These players are exploding on the market, but the legality of it can sometimes be in a gray area." TVMyPod isn't actually charging for its services yet, so all customers have to pay is the cost of the iPod and the price of the DVD as it appears on Amazon. The company does plan to introduce set prices however, and also is looking into a subscriptions service to keep content up to date. Customers will also soon be able to send in their own iPods they bought elsewhere.

Source:
Boston.com

Written by: James Delahunty @ 23 Jan 2006 7:17

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• 9 comments

• weazel200

  who the hell would want to watch a dvd on a tiny screen like the iPods?

  26.1.2006 14:36 #1

• armygreen

  I don't have one personally, but my friend got a 30G video, and I transcoded a movie for him and it wasn't hard to watch at all. In fact, I was stunned at how clear it was. It even supports H.264. Watching video KILLS the battery life though. I think he could only get about one movie out of it before having to recharge.

  26.1.2006 19:07 #2

• macDIESEL

  gotta agree with weazel200 on this one. apple seems to want to make their ipods tiny, which is good. but for watching vids, its just too small. yes the image is clear and bright, its just still to small.
  
  a psp screen size is a lot better. but the image isnt quite as good as video ipod.
  
  but then again, i'd rather watch a dvd on a large screen at home anyway.
  
  hey, it couldve been worse if apple tried to fit a vid screen onto the shuffle. and brag how they spent a lot on r&d to make the vid image

  26.1.2006 19:24 #3

• weazel200

  watching dvd's on a big screen is far better. if it was a short video clip on an iPod then maybe but to stare at it for more than an hour is ridiculous.

  27.1.2006 05:02 #4

• biggermac

  weazel200 (Senior Member) writes:
  > who the hell would want to watch a dvd on a tiny
  > screen like the iPods?
  
  Actually I would - not normally of course, but I can see where in certain situations it would be appreciated.
  
  One example I can give you - as an occasional poker player, I sometimes play hands I shouldn't out of pure boredom because I am sitting there doing the right thing and refusing to play inferior starting hands. Well, at some point I end up playing a hand here or there I shouldn't.. Having a iPod video playing a TV show I like, and where I can easily pause it in case I do play a good hand, would come in handy - actually it would probably save me enough money over time to pay for itself.

  28.1.2006 03:16 #5

• bagio

  I have to travel overseas to many, many locations that don't have TV sets in the rooms I rent so I always take my little 2 inch tv set with me. I put it on the table next to my chair and within 3 minutes I don't even realize I am watching a small picture. It is a totally normal viewing experience as if I were watching my regular TV in my home.

  29.1.2006 04:58 #6

• rokmsokm

  it gets worse...videos on a cell phone screen! WTF?!

  29.1.2006 16:14 #7

• lannigan

  Well for one I watch movies on my ipod. I have a 30 gig ipod. I am a HUGE spongebob fan and put spongebob episodes on there to watch with my kids. They freak and think it is the greatest thing since sliced bread!...lol
  Now
  I also put those stupid clips from stupidvideos.com. Makes for a good laugh on coffee break with the buddies. But.... you have to learn to encode video...xilisoft is the best.
  
  The videos are actually quite good and not too small. I wouldnt sit for hours at a time but for 20 or 30 minutes its ok......... better than a portable dvd player and I can fit every spongebob episode ever made on it!
  
  

  29.1.2006 16:20 #8

• lannigan

  May I say part of the problem with americans heads are they have to have the f$%king 54# plasma screen with thermal radiance and whatever but you cannot beat the portabilty of ipod, the quality and the convenience.
  
  The only thing that sucks is battery time but you can get extra 9volt battery adapters that hook up to the bottom and give you another 10 hours of video anyways. They cost 10 bucks!
  
  Another point, try showing this to someone in a thirdworld country and tell them it is crappy they would look at you like you were from MARS!
  
  People just have no perspective ever since HD and home theatre came in! Imagine 20 years agon watching Mork and Mindy in the front seat of your car....every episode at your fingertips!
  
  Hope I made my point.....

  29.1.2006 16:25 #9