TiVo Thinks Copy Protection Is A Trade Off
from the think-again dept
TiVo is getting some press attention today for expanding the ability of their TiVoToGo offering so people will be able to move TiVo shows to things like the video iPod or the PSP. Of course, what the Associated Press article on this makes clear is that there was a tradeoff by TiVo to get this done: more stringent copy protection technology. TiVo has admitted in the past that it had to do some horse trading with the entertainment industry to even allow TiVoToGo to exist -- but all that really created was a seriously crippled service that wasn't too interesting for most users, especially when they knew they could get unencumbered TV shows elsewhere. That's even more true today, and with people more distrustful than ever of copy protection, why would people want to buy into this offering? Companies need to realize that copy protection isn't a "trade off." It's a limitation. It's taking away the ability to do what users want with content, thereby making it less valuable to them. The TV industry has a huge opportunity to embrace more open file sharing of television shows in a way that benefits them. They can release shows in open formats with commercials, and encourage file sharing. They get more viewers and more loyal viewers -- and that can be used to sell more ads. Instead, they force the content to be locked down so tightly that no one even bothers with the official offerings.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
"but dude" argument
to which you can reply "but dude if they do force DRM on legit users, they turj legit users into pirate users"..
so it's never going anywhere - there's only one way it seems, which is more and more DRM until the studios go bankrupt and can't produce content anymore.
this makes way for independent content producers which are more willing to experiment -> and no DRM, and problem solved.
until the next technology wave...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Meanwhile back at Sony
"How to Enable or Disable Automatically Running CD-ROMs" - Microsoft
[ link to this | view in thread ]
bias
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: bias
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: bias
[ link to this | view in thread ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: bias
sick, this is not a straight news site. The articles are more editorials than "reporting."
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: bias
[ link to this | view in thread ]
TiVO and iPod
[ link to this | view in thread ]