DirecTV DVR Will Delete Pay-Per-View Shows

from the record-at-your-own-risk dept

First we had ABC thinking that not allowing people to fast forward through commercials on a DVR-type product was a good idea, and now comes the news that DirecTV will automatically delete Pay-Per-View shows you record with your DVR after 24-hours. This is apparently at the request of the major Hollywood studios who have decided that the best way to build up an audience is to piss them off by not allowing them to record the movies that they legally paid for via PPV, and then chose to record and time shift. Time shifting is perfectly legal, so there's absolutely no legal reason for DirecTV to ban the practice. As for the Hollywood studios, this is more backwards thinking. One of these days, someone in Hollywood is going to realize that pissing off your loyal customers isn't a good idea.

Filed Under: dvrs, hollywood, pay per view, time shifting
Companies: directv

DirecTV Buys What's Left Of ReplayTV

from the thanks-for-the-time-shifted-memories dept

DirecTV has had something of a love-hate affair with TiVo for years, so the company must be happy that it's been able to pick up the remains of ReplayTV. Remember that ReplayTV actually pre-dated TiVo in the DVR scene -- and the two were direct competitors for a while. ReplayTV was a favorite among many in the techset for not giving in to the entertainment industry (as TiVo did). That meant that ReplayTV actually allowed features like commercial skipping and sharing recordings with other ReplayTV users. Unfortunately for ReplayTV this also meant a series of bank account-draining lawsuits forcing the company into bankruptcy followed by a firesale to consumer electronics firm D&M Holdings. Not much was heard from ReplayTV for a while. The company decided to drop the hardware habit and focus just on software -- but apparently it wasn't doing much for D&M Holdings. It's unclear what DirecTV is planning to do with what's left of ReplayTV, but the immediate speculation is that it's really just buying a patent portfolio at this point. It's a rather sad end for what had been an innovative and consumer-friendly company.

Filed Under: dvr
Companies: directv, replaytv

Appeals Court Says That Just Buying A Smart Card Reader Doesn't Mean You Pirated DirecTV Signals

from the well-that's-good dept

While we often talk about the extortion-like tactics of the RIAA in going after file sharers, people sometimes forget that it was DirecTV that really pioneered this practice on the corporate level. Well before the RIAA started suing music fans, DirecTV sued a company that had been selling a device that would let people hack smart cards, and as part of the suit, DirecTV ended up with the company's customer list. They then set out to sue most of the folks on that list, without any evidence that those customers actually used the equipment to make smart cards for unauthorized access to DirecTV signals. The lawsuits snagged innocent folks who had plenty of legitimate reasons for wanting to program smart cards -- but DirecTV found the process so profitable that it pushed its "anti-piracy" team to do many questionable things in trying to convince people to settle -- even if they were completely innocent. Eventually, the company was accused of extortion and was told to stop threatening people if it didn't have any evidence.

However, there were still some people who were found guilty of unauthorized access, even though DirecTV's only evidence was that they had purchased these smart card devices. Reader jedipunk lets us know that an Appeals Court has now tossed out one such decision, noting that simply possessing the device is not evidence of unauthorized access. The court notes that the defendants can still be found guilty if there's proof that they were accessing DirecTV signals with unauthorized equipment -- but simply possessing the smart card hacking device is not illegal and is not proof that they were doing anything illegal with it. Slowly, but surely, it appears that judges are picking up the details on some of these tech cases.

Filed Under: cable cards, extortion, smart cards
Companies: directv