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EFF: Who Killed TiVoToGo?

Over on the tivocommunity.com forums, there's been a lot of chatter about how and why TiVoToGo was disabled in the new Series 3 box. Everyone seemed to be pointing fingers at Cablelabs, TiVo, and the Hollywood studios. The EFF just published a short paper called EFF: Who Killed TiVoToGo? that looks into the issue. The most choice bit:

CableLabs has yet to permit TiVo to implement TiVoToGo in the CableCARD-compatible Series 3 HD. TiVo must first create a set of restrictions that satisfies CableLabs, and, if it cannot, the feature will remain extinct. Hollywood has openly wanted to rein in TiVoToGo, and any revived version will be more limited than its predecessor. Again, if Hollywood and cable companies had originally obtained such a veto power over the DVR itself, TiVo might never have been born.

The EFF has been beating this anti-DRM drum for years but it certainly looks like their fears of digital TV being locked down with DRM and hindering innovation is coming true.

by Matt Haughey October 3, 2006 in News

Comments

Why am I NOT surprised. You spend $800 bucks on a brand-new Tivo, $12 to $20 bucks on a yearly service, only to have the most basic or free niceties removed or limited. Hollywood, continues to treat the public, like a bunch of 5 year olds running with scissors.

So... What exactly am I getting for my money?
answer: Screwed.

Posted by: c.Lake at Oct 3, 2006 1:31:06 PM

DRM is fine if the restrictions are acceptable relative to what the consumer is being asked to pay for the content. The industry cannot ultimately restrict the movement of digital content, they are just trying to find the balance. Apple seemed to find that balance with the protected AAC format. The same thing just needs to be done for video. At the end of the day, the consumer won't buy it without acceptable value.

Posted by: 20TIL6 at Oct 4, 2006 1:53:33 PM

The lack of TiVoToGo may be getting the most attention, but the loss of that feature doesn't really surprise me all that much. The lack of any digital-to-analog conversion makes removing the content from the universe of the DVR itself problematic. But the refusal of CableLabs to certify MRV is much more disturbing.

The real problem here is the ridiculous amount of power/authority that the FCC has ceded to CableLabs, which is an industry monopoly. At the very least, MRV ought to be permitted, as MRV can be reasonably implemented as a "closed loop" - that is, content could be shifted only between boxes with subscribed CableCards and therefore the content is assured of the same level of DRM protection as it was when it was recorded in the first place.

Posted by: AJRitz at Oct 5, 2006 1:20:36 PM

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折叠型材
PP型材

Posted by: 折叠型材 at Oct 16, 2006 1:15:17 AM

Matt, I guess I foolishly assumed the S3 would have TTG. It seemed obvious that the cable guys would see that they would need parity with the satellite offerings (PocketDish and Tivo enabled solutions). Because it doesn't, the benefits of switching to Cable and getting S3's for the house are outweighed by the costs. Half of the video my family watches is now in the car as they are driven in traffic jams to and from school. And it isn't single play DVDs at 12.95 a pop. It is Tivo content squirted over to a Media player.

So what does the S3 give my family but less?

*More capacity? I have 600GB S2 Tivos, and could go to 1TB as soon as the 500GB drives are priced more reasonably. The S3? No external drive, or I have to do a very ugly hack for what- 2TB?

*Hidef? Folks in my family watch what they watch, and none of it is hidef, so they could care less about it. They are happy with wide flat screens (42 and 60 inch), and the Pioneer 60 does a good job at upscaling and mpeg artifact removal on S2 Tivo shows.

When an S3 comes out that does TTG or at least has some added benefit- like playing mpep4 content from the internet, or directly transfers to a portable player without TTG, maybe I'll pony up.

The studios are not going to become enlightenned. Face it- it will be a repeat of the music industry's fiasco with MP3, only worse. The difference is that video that millions will download and watch is a lot easier to create than good music. YouTube reality shows prove that. But the studios can be counted on to arrogantly remain in denial even after all the shooting is over.

=JT=

Posted by: Justin Thyme at Oct 22, 2006 11:48:14 AM

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