AfterDawn: News

Macrovision strikes TiVo users

In ongoing efforts, copyright supporter Macrovision has dealt an interesting blow to TiVo users. Certain digital movies in which Macrovision has an intellectual stake in have been flagged with some curious limitations.

One TiVo user captured a screenshot showing that Macrovision has enabled a "24 Hours to Watch" protocol on a rather benign movie. What this means for consumers is that once you've begun watching a movie that you've saved to your TiVo device, you have 24 hours to watch till your heart's content until the movie will become unplayable.



Macrovision has 3 known standards they flag TiVo recordings with, those being Copy Never which does not allow a flagged broadcast to be saved to the TiVo, 7 Day Unlimited which expire after 7 days, but can be watched as many times as the consumer wishes within that trial period or 7 day/24 Hours which only allow the content to be stored for 7 days and watched for 24 hours before your TiVo box self destructs in a firey mess within your entertainment center.

Source:
Engadget

Written by: Dave Horvath @ 11 Aug 2006 7:27

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• 43 comments

• gogochar

  Quote:watched for 24 hours before your TiVo box self destructs in a firey mess within your entertainment center.I hope that is joke... right?

  11.8.2006 08:30 #1

• ZippyDSM

  THis is why TiVo NEVER appeled to me,frist you have to pay hardware then you have to pay 20+ a month over your cable/sat bill then you have to bend over and pray they use lube....napalm is not a lube....
  
  what in the hell are they going to do with tapers fine them and send them to jail? this is truely fcking retarted.

  11.8.2006 09:49 #2

• djscoop

  This is a perfect example of why I'm SO glad that I have the 'lesser-known but same thing' ReplayTV system. On top of that, my first get unit does not require any subsription, and it works for free. Just had to upgrade that hard drive. If any PVR/DVR device really wants to take off, they need to make them fully 100% compatible with their computer and have lesser copy protections allowing you to transfer the video to the computer, watch it, and burn it to optical media.

  11.8.2006 10:38 #3

• ZippyDSM

  djscoop
  isnt that jsut a reg DVR?
  Digital Video Recorder

  11.8.2006 10:40 #4

• DVDdoug

  I read somewhere that TiVo was loosing market share. If that's true, this should finish them off.

  11.8.2006 11:18 #5

• Davedough

  Quote: Quote:watched for 24 hours before your TiVo box self destructs in a firey mess within your entertainment center.
  
  I hope that is joke... right?Just a bit of sarcasm for what seems to be over the top copyright protection.

  11.8.2006 12:08 #6

• gogochar

  Okay, I was sweatin' there for a moment.

  11.8.2006 12:12 #7

• LazyWorkr

  I have two hacked DirecTivos and its the greatest invention since fried rice. THey are easy to upgrade and and are better than any DVD Burner of VCR. Its easy to get around the copy protection thanks to the folks at dvrplayground. If everyone knew how cool these things were everyone would have one.

  11.8.2006 12:15 #8

• codymax

  Thank goodness I've got dish and I don't have to go through this BS with my dvr...

  11.8.2006 18:30 #9

• limelight

  Long live the outdated VCR and a scrambler box.

  11.8.2006 18:32 #10

• wolf123

  Is this like web tv well if it is good luckwith you users.
  
  

  11.8.2006 19:41 #11

• bobiroc

  Glad I got my DVR through Dish Network. More features and less money.
  
  On a side note and it may be taboo to say this and if it is I am sorry, but anyone have any luck getting into the Dish DVR's and extracting the files to a PC. I have the ViP622 HD DVR Receiver and it is a paint to re-record them to my PC if I want to back up my season shows on DVD.

  11.8.2006 19:58 #12

• wolf123

  I have a series question we are about too get that special with the football games with the dvr now tell me one good thing you can hook up a dvd recorder and record too a dvd right if not how do you get the programs from dvr too a dvd.

  11.8.2006 20:06 #13

• bobiroc

  I also have my Windows Media Center PC hooked to my TV and I have been playing the DVR recordings and re-recording them onto my pc. Using a utility called DVRMSToolbox I can convert the media center recording to an MPG and strip the commercials. Not really that difficult, but the hour per show that I have to wait to re-record it is a pain.

  11.8.2006 20:10 #14

• wolf123

  can you talk too me live thewolfdog123on yahoo messenger

  11.8.2006 20:13 #15

• wolf123

  thewolfdog123

  11.8.2006 20:14 #16

• wolf123

  really want too ask about the media center edition of windows

  11.8.2006 20:15 #17

• bobiroc

  I do not have yahoo messenger, only AIM.
  
  

  11.8.2006 20:16 #18

• bobiroc

  As a whole I am very pleased with Windows MCE. I hooked up my PC using a DVI cable to my HD TV, then I have a digital audio cable going to my surround sound system and I use it mainly to stream music from my other PC in the office. I also stream videos and picture slideshows on occasion.
  
  My only problem is that the DVR Guides are not perfect otherwise I would just record the show on the DVR and the PC at the same time. I am sure I can get it the way I want to if I played around with it a little more, but I do not want to leave my computer on all the time to get all my shows.

  11.8.2006 20:20 #19

• wolf123

  cool cool

  11.8.2006 20:25 #20

• ZippyDSM

  bobiroc
  do you have have good DV equiment?
  I had some TV cards the software easy to use but stabilty was a issuse.
  
  I want to get soemthign thats cable of takeing Svid and DVI and amkeign them look desent I cant seem to find anythign that will do that,getting games to look good was hell so I gave up.
  
  Been looking at soem high def multi input USB vid stuff,but so far cnat find anythign I realy like.
  
  I ahve the euro version of the creative Montage last time I by anything from Creative,its a TV to montior device,has a built in TV tuner,Svid,AV ins outs,montior in and out,but tis not better than a low end video ard on doing games TV is ok but nothing speacil....

  11.8.2006 20:33 #21

• LazyWorkr

  That's what I'm saying guys with my direcTivo I can pull the video straight off of my dvr to my pc (in mpg format), so the video quailty is awesome. Not only that but I can watch any recorded show on any of my other hacked Tivos by simply transfering the files and listen to music and look at digital photos from my PC. I mean if you guys looked into this you would love it. I'm telling you get direct tv, buy a direcTivo off ebay, hack it (www.dvrplayground.com), and sit back and enjoy. Another cool thing is you don't have to download the newer updates for your Tivo so you don't have to worry about updates screwing everthing up or this pesky macrovision. You make it the way you want and it stays that way.

  11.8.2006 20:36 #22

• ZippyDSM

  I am still looking for soemthign that desently dose XXX to Montior.
  *L*
  

  I have a brain...I think......
  
  Windows Vister
  I dub thee vister untill thee can prove thyself.
  
  I aint the brightest bulb around but I can feel my way in the dark...
  
  I fuzzy braind mew =0_o=
  
  FIGHT THE M.A.F.I.A.A.
  "Music And Film Industry Association of America.."
  
  "Hollywood the 4kids of comic moives."
  
  
  anyone know of a DVD palyer that will auto paly a moive?
  skip or play thru all the stuff it cant skip and jsut auto play the darn moive?
  I have a 80 soemthign grandmother and her sis that want to wath moives and cant figure out the DVD remote...

  11.8.2006 20:39 #23

• bobiroc

  Zippy,
  
  My TV-Tuner Card in my Media Center PC is a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR150 MCE Edition. Works flawlessly with the Media Center Edition options and has good recording quality. It has COAX, SVideo and RCA hookups. I believe they make a HD version but that was a little out of my price range.

  11.8.2006 20:42 #24

• xhardc0re

  the MPAA/RIAA has already been begging both the U.S. FCC & Congress to adopt laws against copying. One of those laws would absolutely mandate all future analog & digital devices to recognize a broadcast flag. The broadcast flag would decide whether you'd be able to make a copy of something. So for instance, a VCR could not be used to record a movie playing from a DVD player through a capture card. Is this possible?? Yes, once the new hardware is built they could embed this right in there.
  If you want to protect against this BS go to http://www.eff.org Everything you wanted to know about DRM can be found there.

  11.8.2006 22:52 #25

• wolf123

  i have this for you I use too copy vhs too vhs but some would not copy but I found away around this you know how old machines yes old vcrs copied new coppied protected vhs tapes so how do you know anything that comes out will not be really coppied protected and why do you care.

  11.8.2006 23:05 #26

• jab1981

  Quote:ZIppyDSM - THis is why TiVo NEVER appeled to me,frist you have to pay hardware then you have to pay 20+ a month over your cable/sat bill then you have to bend over and pray they use lube....napalm is not a lube.... Must be new to Tivo. Before April you could simply buy out your Tivo. Granted you have to come up with a $300 lifetime payment, but I've had my current Tivo for over 4 years... never paid a single monthly bill. The way I looked at it, the lifetime payment was part of the cost.
  
  I'm speculating but your comments sound like you didn't want to like the product and THAT's why it didn't appeal to you. I could be wrong, but it sounds like you wanted to find a problem so you did.
  
  As far as $20+ a month, my dad purchased my old Tivo and he's currently paying $12 a month. While some of the monthly pricing plans do get a bit high, according to the Tivo.com website the highest is $19.95 while the lowest is $10.25. Nothing over $20 at all.
  
  And finally... you seem to be mixing up Tivo's two payment structures. Before April of this year you had the option of buying a lifetime subscription as I did. This means you make no monthly payments. However you did still have to buy the unit. So the complaint of paying a monthly fee before April wasn't an issue. SINCE April, you now Tivo has unrolled a payment system where you don't pay for the unit any longer. According to the Tivo website you can sign up for a year of Tivo at $12.95 and you get the Tivo for free. So the complaint that you have to pay for hardware is no longer an issue.
  
  Just clearing a few things up. A bit unfair to Tivo. I love my unit and it's never personally done me wrong. I haven't had to invest a cent in it for over 4 years now and it's till going strong and they keep adding some great features.
  
  That said, this news report is a bit troubling but I'll wait to see it for myself. After all, how many news reports were there about Tivo selling pop-up ads that would pop-up in the middle of TV shows. I watch quite a bit of TV and this never happened even once on my Tivo. Then there was the scare that an certain users supposedly were blocked from taping an episode of the Simpsons. Huge news story... yet my episode of the Simpsons recorded perfectly. So now here's yet another story about the horrible things Tivo is doing and how it's going to cripple television watching... I'll believe it when it actually starts to happen. And WHEN it does I'll be just as pissed as the rest of you, but not a second before. But if/when it does come to pass that TV starts being blocked, we all know full well they won't stop at Tivo. As soon as the HD transition takes into effect we'll all be at the mercy of tv providers, no matter how we watch our tv.

  12.8.2006 04:49 #27

• xBMWxM3x

  My mom for a while worked for macrovision which was kind of awkward because i still used DVD Decrypter...

  12.8.2006 10:15 #28

• S2K

  with tivotogo, sling and orb "placeshifting" they have to eventually be ready to start reaching out and disabling content.
  
  I note above that several of the people stating they are glad they do not have Tivo are mentioning devices which will also be problematic.
  
  If they did a bit of research that tivo is hardly the in the minority in broadcast flag compliance, and that the decision to impliment the flag on a particular piece of programming has noithing to do with Tivo but is done by the broadcaster in agreement with the ip rights holder.
  
  

  12.8.2006 14:39 #29

• ZippyDSM

  jab1981
  I might have got it confused with another DVR company,was there a one that had a monthy fee?
  Its been so long I cant remember I know now adays DVRs are like DVD palyers easier to find and more than 4 brands,I dont know much abotu the company type DVR I guess ><
  
  *puts napalm on my foot and naws on it*
  
  0-o
  yay I can only tase napalm *mouth melts* 0.o
  

  12.8.2006 15:14 #30

• halfhere

  i think tivo is slowly going downhill

  14.8.2006 07:13 #31

• bobiroc

  "i think tivo is slowly going downhill "
  
  Which is a shame because they do have a lot of nice features and are easy to get into and work with a computer, but companies like Macrovision are out to try and restrict it more and more.
  
  I mean, I like my Dish DVR, but I have had no luck finding a way to get the video files off.

  14.8.2006 07:29 #32

• anahaevia

  Fck Tivo! Media Center all the way! It might not be the best but you can always cut the commercials out(I know somewhere they have an automated commercial cutter thingy, could be a thegreenbutton.com) and burn it to DVD-RW and watch it at a friends house of what not. Thats my 2 cents, feel free to disagree with me!

  14.8.2006 11:19 #33

• wolf123

  14.8.2006 13:09 #34

• beforente

  Bring back my ReplayTv

  15.8.2006 17:43 #35

• djscoop

  I still got my Replay, still running strong...

  15.8.2006 17:50 #36

• dufas

  A 'no record' broadcast flag is already being used. My ATI card sees it and stops recording and pops up a message on the screen stating " this is protected content and you do not have permission to copy this material" This happens on around 50 percent of the analogue broadcasts..

  19.8.2006 09:44 #37

• ZippyDSM

  dufas
  ick 0-o
  thats got to be fun

  19.8.2006 12:04 #38

• moviegram

  I think this all a shame. People have been recording programs to watch at their convenience since the home vcr came out. I am not sure the benefit of Tivo; I have not gotten into it and from the sound of this; I probably won't.
  I had a huge vhs collection. Some movies were not replaceable on dvd and I wanted to transfer them to dvd before the tapes were no longer any good. My ATI card can recognize vhs tapes that are right protected. I have a camcorder that does also so I could not transfer through it. I have spent hours taking commercials out of a baseball game for a friend that wanted to hold onto a particular game... and although I am not a sports fan I understand the desire to relive certain games through fans like him. I think if you are having trouble transferring anything you own for your personal use you should have a look at Sima products that go between the original recording and the medium you wish to copy to. http://www.simaproducts.com/products/product_detail.php?product_id=90

  20.8.2006 15:59 #39

• dufas

  Maybe I should have added that there is a way around the broadcast flag when using the ATI card..I don't want to advertise it. There are people that read things and try to screw things up for everyone else...........

  20.8.2006 21:41 #40

• moviegram

  Dufas, do you think I should edit it and take out the link? I am ok with that if the site owners want to do it also...

  23.8.2006 06:36 #41

• dufas

  NOPE....................

  23.8.2006 08:35 #42

• craftyzan

  don't forget the video cable and stereo cables! hook them up to your cable box, the cable box thinks it's just connections to your hardware.

  8.3.2007 21:52 #43