Microsoft Acknowledges NBC's Wish is Its Command 417
theodp writes "Responding to questions about why some users of Windows Vista Media Center were prevented from recording the NBC Universal TV shows 'American Gladiator' and 'Medium,' Microsoft has acknowledged that Windows Media Centers will block users from recording TV shows at the request of a broadcaster. 'Microsoft included technologies in Windows based on rules set forth by the (Federal Communications Commission),' wrote a Microsoft spokeswoman, apparently referring to an FCC proposal that the courts struck down in 2005. 'Microsoft has put the requirements of broadcasters above what consumers want,' said the EFF's Danny O'Brien. 'They've imposed restrictions way beyond what the law requires. Customers need to know who Microsoft is listening to and how that affects their equipment. Right now, the only way customers know what Microsoft has agreed to is when the technology they've bought suddenly stops working. Microsoft needs to come clean and tell its customers what deals it has made.'"
How fast will a hack appear for this ? (Score:0, Interesting)
In fact I would be surprised that the hack is already out there. Just too much of a slacker to search for it.
Basking in the love... (Score:5, Interesting)
Is this the place where those of us who loathe Vista as a bloated, DRM-ridden piece of crap that just can't wait to rat on its owners come for an apology from all those people who accused us of spreading FUD about it?
Just wondering...
paradigm shift to the rescue (Score:2, Interesting)
Why buy MS when you can get something that works. The reason MS is not working for the consumer is because it's not getting its money from the consumer.
Computers are becoming a commodity. By the time, if not already, the next windows/office comes out computers will be so cheap there will be little room for MS. Solid state multi capable CPUs should dramatically drop the cost.
I'd say paradigm shift to the rescue.
G
Re:defective by design... (Score:5, Interesting)
Douglas Adams is often quoted with something along this line:
"Most TV stations are in the business to deliver customers to advertisers. The BBC is in the business to deliver TV programmes to people."
Re:NBC should drop the broadcast flag....or perish (Score:3, Interesting)
Perhaps we should thank Microsoft (Score:3, Interesting)
Hopefully with awareness finally spreading beyond the minority of hobbyists, enough of a voice can be made to stop the big companies before it is too late.
Re:Damned either way (Score:3, Interesting)
I was a Mac user. Who went to Win98 and XP. Who saw Vista and thought, screw that. Seems to me a lot of people don't like Vista either, far far more than they dislike XP. And you know what? Before I buy Vista, I'd go back to Apple. Most likely I'll go Ubuntu (although Ubuntu has gotten worse, imo, since 6.04; either that or their upgrade process blows chunks).
I saw MS putting DRM in left and right in WMP. I started out not upgrading WMP. And now, I use VLC for most things.
I now use Ubuntu on my 2nd main machine (XP still is on the first). When I get the time, the Win98 boxes (which are just used to surf) will got to Ubuntu. When XP loses support, I am probably keep some XP boxes around, but I may only buy 1 copy of Vista (if that), down from 3 of XP. For the last 5 years, MS hasn't received any money from me except for their mice and keyboards, and the only forseeable purchase I have with them is for their flight sim game software.
I had been interested in XP Media Center for years. Never bought it. Why? As mentioned before, I watched MS add DRM into everything. Then I recently read MS's crap with dropping support on their DRM'd mp3s, and it is solidified that I'm not buying the Vista version. Now this going beyond the broadcast flag.
Oh, and Xbox? I love the Mech franchise. Never bought another game since since MS bought (and then killed) that franchise. Will never bought either console. I instead own a Wii and a PS3.
btw, people, stop watching NBC. That network sues companies for all sorts of crap, their parent company lays people off unnecessary to slim up margins, they have been hell when it comes to DRM, and now this. They've made themselves irrelevant with gameshows and abandoning viewers, so stop rewarding them at all. Hell, I feel bad watching SciFi, USA, or Bravo.
Re:Nothing to see here (Score:5, Interesting)
MacroVision ACP, anyone?
Yes, you can easily filter that out with a little box you buy for a couple of bucks if you're affected by it, but you're definitely viewing things a bit too rose-colored on the whole copy-protection front if you think that this sort of thing is new.
The Last Straw. (Score:5, Interesting)
However, Microsofts recent performance has been pretty disgraceful, enough to force change for me. I point to three incidents - This one with the broadcast flag, the recent shutdown of the Microsoft Music Validation servers, and the release of the emails where it showed that senior management had no idea how to treat customers or partners during the months leading up to the release of Vista.
How hard is it for Microsoft to treat their customers OK? I mean, the broadcast flag incident shows they bend over for the broadcast networks, even though the networks business model doesn't even require this. Why do they do this to their customers? Obviously, the networks are paying Microsoft, but surely they can't be paying as much as customers pay for licenses to use Vista/XP. Why treat your greatest revenue stream like a POS - like they're stupid?
With regard to the Music Server incident, a number of customers have paid for music, these are valuable customers again, and they are having their servers shut down so they can't play their music beyond their next upgrade/reinstall. How low is that. I mean, how much more poorly can you treat your customers. How hard is it for Microsoft to keep a few servers running to validate that music, to say to the customers, look, we'll keep this going as a sign that we give a
As for the emails, I don't know where to begin. They treated HP like
It really pains me to use Vista after reading this stuff. This isn't a complaint about Vista or whatever, its an OK operating system, its a lot easier to use than any Linux variant, and I find it stable now. But I can't keep using it beyond my current hardware iteration. I'll keep using it at work, but from a moral point of view, I just can't keep using it personally. You just can't keep treating people like that, and I feel like a gullible fool giving Microsoft more money. I am pleased that there are alternatives at last, be it Apple or a future Linux that will be more innovative and user friendly by the time my current hardware dies.
Re:Great News! (Score:4, Interesting)
I pay for advertisement (Score:4, Interesting)
Of course, the internet was not created to be yet another form of advertising media, but that is what it has become and somehow people actually believe that is what it's there for -- they don't see it as a corruption of its original intent.
I bought some DVDs over the weekend only to find that the first 5, unskippable, minutes were advertisements for other things.
Why should I have to pay for advertisements being shoved in my face?
I once worked for a weekly news rag and we fought spam hard. Meanwhile, our own sales people were constantly pushing and stepping over the line when it came to their own email behaviors. As a company that is all about advertisement, you'd think they'd be more sympathetic to the "needs of the other marketers" out there. But in their defense, I suppose, they published a paper and didn't shove it down anyone's throat... and it was a free paper too, so no one actually paid to see these ads. (This is about as legitimate as it can get) Eve so, I couldn't stand working there any longer so I don't. I hate marketing. It simply corrupts everything it touches.
Re:Nothing to see here (Score:4, Interesting)
You spend over a hundred dollars to upgrade a product, it won't work as advertised, and than just just say "oh well I'll download it?" That's not how I would react.
No, if you bought Vista because of the commercials that tell you how it's a "mddia center" and you find out that your "media center" won't work, you're going to be pissed.
And "something else to record it with" includes Linux (or other UNIX clone like Apple or Be) and MythTV.
Re:I wonder why Tivo ignored the flag (Score:5, Interesting)
And it's *SO* difficult to write code to conditionalize behaviour based on locale, right? It's not like there's something in the OS that tells the computer which country it's in.
"In Canada we see shows being blocked from recording using that flag all the time. Yes, its ok for a broadcaster here to stop us from recording a program."
Reference please, or I'm gonna have to call bullshit.
Google returns a ton of old references about Canada *thinking* about talking about it, but not a single instance that it's actually in use, but no reference to any law that was passed regarding it.
Your MS apologism suggests that the US is on the lenient side of what's required, when in fact it's on the strict side.
Mister Rogers already settled this issue (Score:5, Interesting)
"Some public stations, as well as commercial stations, program the 'Neighborhood' at hours when some children cannot use it. I think that it's a real service to families to be able to record such programs and show them at appropriate times. I have always felt that with the advent of all of this new technology that allows people to tape the 'Neighborhood' off-the-air, and I'm speaking for the 'Neighborhood' because that's what I produce, that they then become much more active in the programming of their family's television life. Very frankly, I am opposed to people being programmed by others. My whole approach in broadcasting has always been 'You are an important person just the way you are. You can make healthy decisions.' Maybe I'm going on too long, but I just feel that anything that allows a person to be more active in the control of his or her life, in a healthy way, is important."
Re:Nothing to see here (Score:3, Interesting)
I add a nice pchdtv video card, which does not detect the broadcast flag, and I have nothing to worry about. Plus, I can burn dvd's of my recordings, and many other things.
Re:I wonder why Tivo ignored the flag (Score:5, Interesting)
It really makes you wonder what MS had to gain by doing this. Were they paid? Was it some sort of weird deal to get content providers annoyed at everyone BUT MS for not respecting the broadcast flag thus far? Why is a multi-billion dollar company bending over and taking it from tripe like American Gladiators?
Re:I pay for advertisement (Score:1, Interesting)
End users are not MS's Customers. (Score:3, Interesting)
Don't fool youreself (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:I wonder why Tivo ignored the flag (Score:5, Interesting)
They don't care whether it's movies or tv or music. it's money they seem to think they're losing so send in the lawyers!
The funny thing is I *was* a huge SG1 fan, even had seasons 1-7 on DVD. I missed the first half of SG: Atlantis due to being without cable for a few months, so I just went online to catch up and figured I'd be 'nice' and do the same for other people in the same boat. I still have the downloaded episodes, and you know what? I've never watched them, nor have I watched SG1 since.
Left a really bad taste in my mouth so I'm doing the best thing I can...NOT watching them anymore. Of course if I was more motivated I'd write them a letter but hey...haha
Comment removed (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:I wonder why Tivo ignored the flag (Score:3, Interesting)
Don't get me wrong, Tivo makes a very good product and I very much enjoyed using my Series 1 model, in fact I still use the Tivo peanut remote for my Myth box. The Series 1 was a highly hackable appliance and I was able to add many capabilities to it. Once Tivo started locking the boxes down I started looking for a PVR that would allow me the flexibility to do what I wanted with my media and I settled on MythTV. Tivo is great for the unwashed masses (way better than any of the cableco DVRs) but for someone with even a smattering of tech skills Myth is a superior product.
Re:I wonder why Tivo ignored the flag (Score:3, Interesting)
It's a MEDIAOPOLY! (Score:2, Interesting)
Robert Smigel [google.com] was right.
Now the mainstream media (MSM) is looking to control a large portion of Internet. If the MSM does not allow us to decide what we want, why should we give them what they want? Why does that last statement sound so familiar? [google.com]
Would VLC work? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:My experience with Muthbuntu (Score:3, Interesting)
I, for one, see the inability of a manufacturer to present drivers for a segment of the market as a failure on the manufacturer/developer. I don't care whether it is open or closed source, as long as it works well. If it is open source, all the better - more eyes to review and improve.
As you see it (they way I understand you), you think that Linux is only supposed to be for open source software and not closed source. Certainly the hairy-faced Linux evangelists will not want any closed source software, but they will prepare their environment for that purpose, it also limits their ability to do some stuff (such as load ATI drivers.)
It seems you would blame the Linux people for not developing drivers for a closed product. They could certainly try, but now there are laws in place that criminalize these activities. I don't understand why ATI would have such crappy Linux drivers. Perhaps that's why they had to be bought out by AMD. Perhaps this realization is driving AMD to release sources for their products.
I also purchased an ATI AIW. Nice card, except it limited me. I sold it to my brother-in-law who cares to only be in a Windows world and I picked up an Happauge. I prepared my environment for a linux system. Had I kept my ATI AIW, I would have stayed in the MS Windows system.
I believe we both agree on the end goal: a system that allows us to record TV shows to a PC for either later viewing, commercial-free tv, or live-rewind viewing. We want our system to be easy to setup and use. We want to use the hardware we have laying around to achieve our goal (a promise made by many in the Linux community that doesn't always work out because of closed source hardware vendors.) Just try to remember, a closed device does not mean an open driver can be created for it, even if it is 5 or 15 years later.
Re:NBC and Microsoft pattern (Score:3, Interesting)