Classic TV for Free Download

way2trivial writes to tell us the New York Times is reporting that Warner Brothers will have over 100 classic TV shows available for free download with a 1-2 minutes of commercials per episode. From the article: "There is a catch. To use the technology, viewers will have to agree to participate in a special file-sharing network. This approach helps AOL reduce the cost of distributing-high quality video files by passing portions of the video files from one user's computer to another. AOL says that since it will control the network, it can protect users from the sorts of viruses and spyware that infect other peer-to-peer systems."

I suspect AOL's attempted p2p network control...

[Anonymous Coward]

...will look a lot like that classic Lucy in the Bonbon factory episode I'm downloading.

I suspect I'll allow Real Player on my system before I accept an entire p2p install just to download some crappy TV.

Ah . . *sniff*

[OverlordQ]

"AOL says that since it will control the network, it can protect users from the sorts of viruses and spyware that infect other peer-to-peer systems."

Yea . . . uh . . you know . . . AHAHAHAHHAHA, no i'm sorry, there's no way I can make a serious comment about that.

You know what would be cool...

[Anonymous Coward]

...if AOL had the idea to send you their data via snail mail, on some kind of CD.

Re:win/win/win

[Beardydog]

I hate to be the one to break it to you, but broadband is already saturated with penetration.

Is Leave It To Beaver one of them?

[winkydink]

Haskell: Hi Mrs Cleaver, how's the Beaver?
Mrs. Cleaver: Fine Eddie. And how's your little pecker?

Re:blah.. corporate quality for corporate citizens

[mattwarden]

Most decent hour long shows (CSI, Rome, BSG) end up on torrent sites ripped from HDTV in either 350meg or 700meg.. the latter is just awsome to watch.

So you've heard, right?

Spam on TV

[Tony]

can you imagine spam on your tv?

Ah. I'm closing my eyes, trying to conjure up the vision of spam on my TV. I'm watching a Friends re-run; let's see, Joey's drinking a Coke, Phoebe's buying an apothecary table from Pottery Barn. . . hmmmm, now I'm interrupted by a commercial for Zoloft (whatever the hell *that* is, since they can't legally tell me what it does and I have to ask my doctor), Chandler makes some lame joke about Trojan condoms. . .

Uhm, nope. I can't imagine spam on my TV at all.

Re:Oh Come on! make up your mind already.

[Comboman]

I only think about the advertisments, I guess we will only get Coca/Pepsi-cola and Microsoft adverts, since these adverts must be for a really wide audience (i.e. the whole world)

Pretty much the same as network TV now (minus the ability to insert local ads by the local affiliates). You could talor the ads somewhat by show and target viewers (i.e. Hair dye ads during Sex and the City, Internet dating service ads during Babylon 5, Scientology ads during Welcom Back Kotter, etc.).

Re:Free but more details needed

[SomeoneGotMyNick]

Throw in advertising for Smallville and Sex and the City, track download/share stats, Profit!!!

Congratulations!!!! You just solved for the mysterious '???' of the three step Profit mantra.

Re:This is much bigger than Kotter reruns

[Anonymous Coward]

Dammit, now I'll have the "Welcome Back Kotter" theme running through my head all afternoon.

Dirtist words every uttered on prime time TV?

[Bodhammer]

"Gee Ward, you were awful hard on the Beaver last night!"

Do you ever watch kung fu?

[digitaldc]

Joanna: I love kung fu.
Peter Gibbons: Channel 39.
Joanna: Totally.
Peter Gibbons: You should come over and watch kung fu tonight.
Joanna: Ok. Ok. Can we order lunch first? Ok.

Why would AOL need peer-to-peer?

[Tax Boy]

Why would AOL need peer-to-peer to save on their bandwidth? Don't they own the internet?

Re:wow

[Anonymous Coward]

or a big duck

Re:Spam on TV

[schon]

let's take Zyrtec, which for a long time ran advertisements consisting of people climbing mountains and shouting out the drug's name

To be honest though, that was just because nobody but their marketing department knew how the hell to pronounce it. :o)

Re:Free but more details needed

[dr.badass]

Finally, WB-AOL needs an "Internet Extender." IP based set-top box that connects to your TV.

A box that allows you to watch television on your television? I think I can get behind that.

Re:win/win/win

[snuf23]

"saturated with penetration"

Is that the same as having every hole filled?

Re:It was a sex joke

[bluephone]

[14:49] <poningru> hahahaha thats a first
[14:50] <poningru> jX was told to get his mind into the gutter
[15:06] <jX> ?
[15:07] <poningru> your slashdot post dude
[15:07] * jX looks
[15:08] <jX> oh christ

Oh crap. Yeah, ok, I see it now. I'm a doofus. I can not believe I didn't see that, and obviously the people who know me are amazed as well. Pardon me while I go to a reeducation camp...

Re:win/win/win

[vandil]

In some cases, twice.

Re:Dirtist words every uttered on prime time TV?

[Anonymous Coward]

I beg to differ (at least for UK TV). Check out this little gem: [rainbow.arch.scriptmania.com] [scriptmania.com]; it is a transcript from a popular childrens program "Rainbow" of yesteryear. Enjoy!