PVRs illegal in India?

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PVRs illegal in India?

Did you know PVRs are illegal in India? Me neither, but according to Nilanjana S Roy on rediff.com they are:

Current regulators are not sure whether TiVo breaches the rights of advertisers to advertise or channels to run ads. That means you shouldn't legally use TiVo-if you're watching TV on a TV screen.

Not to fear, a company called Reliance Infocomm is bringing Microsoft's IPTV to India and with it the control over televised space/time that comes with a PVR.

I should point out that I couldn't find anything about this TiVo ban anywhere else online, so like all single-sourced information it should be treated with a healthy skepticism until it can be confirmed.

Back in America there have been some rumblings about advertisers rights when it comes to PVRs, most recently a nasty Senate bill that would have criminalized fast forwarding (which died in the House). In 2002 the CEO of Turner Broadcasting called ad skipping "theft," which has would have some pretty big implications if it were true. The EFF defended the right to skip commercials in Newmark v. Turner but unfortunately ReplayTV went bankrupt before people's right to control media in their own house could be affirmed.

Of course, if advertisers knew what was good for them they would be encouraging people to fast forward through ads. As Mark Cuban speculated and a study by CBS confirmed, no one pays more attention to an ad than someone making sure they don't miss the start of their show. Maybe someone should tell that to the regulators in India?

by George Hotelling December 15, 2004 in News

Comments

Dammit, ReplayTV is still operating. They were sold to D&M and are still selling and providing service. Part of the sale was D&Ms agreement to remove commercial advance from newer units. But they all still retain 30sec skip (no "secret code" needed) and "show|nav" and kind of manual comercal advance.

All this "they went bankrupt" I keep reading on this site tells users that they no longer exist. Why not just rename the site to "TivoPimp.com" and get it over with?

Posted by: iank at Dec 15, 2004 11:52:34 AM

I am not aware of an such legal restrictions in India.

Angsuman Chakraborty
Kolkata, India
http://blog.taragana.com/

Posted by: Angsuman Chakraborty at Dec 20, 2004 8:20:45 AM

the western view on the enforceability of the advertisers right may not be forcefull. If DVR is a potential threat then the advertisers should start cleaning up the markets of the TV-tuner cards as well.
If advertisers are dictating their rights, why should not a viewer choose what he wants. As far as India is concerned DVR will be perceived as another Techie product and those posessing are savvy...period
Lastly the indian laws are so lax, by the time you see any amendments..DVR's will be absolete.

Posted by: Shailesh Dalvi at May 4, 2005 2:33:21 AM

There does not seem to be any evidence of anybody actually attempting to sell any such technologies to the Indian consumer.

With impending technology changes globally, India may very well have slumbered through the PVR phase.

My bet is with IPTV receivers getting embedded into TVs, we may never see the PVR/DVR STB introduced here.

Posted by: Rajesh Jog at Jul 18, 2005 6:10:32 AM

hi guys

thinking of buying avox jukebox

any experiences to share

thx

Posted by: jnk101 at Jun 5, 2006 7:48:46 AM

actually,

dishtv india is now selling DVRs in India - for about $400. The quality totally sucks and I have heard they reboot a lot but they are available so they cannot be illegal.

Posted by: tarun upadhyay at Sep 6, 2007 9:36:44 AM

PVRs illegal in India?

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