[mythtv] Unskippable ads???? Nah!

[Wendy Seltzer]

On 4/19/06, Daniel Kristjansson <danielk at cuymedia.net> wrote:
> On Wed, 2006-04-19 at 12:57 +0100, Colin Guthrie wrote:
> > http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/04/19/philips_enforced_ads_patent/
> >
> > I trust we will be silently ignoring these "flags" if this patent ever
> > comes to anything?
> > Do I even need to ask? ;)
>
> We would need to license the patent from them to not skip
> the ads in the US, right? But of course we could use the
> flags for our own use, say enforced ad skipping.
>
> Which explains why this patent won't be implemented unless
> they can convince the US congress and the president to pass
> a law requiring PVR makers to license the idea from them
> and implement it in their software.

...a similar idea to which is being floated through Congress as the
broadcast flag.  After all, a "do not redistribute" flag is
meaningless unless every device manufacturer is legally required to
respond to it.  So after the FCC's rule requiring that was struck
down, Hollywood is back asking Congress to mandate response to the
flag in HDTV signals, by regulating the manufacture of all HDTV
tuners.  It hasn't passed this term, but it's still very much on the
table.

Or you could use encryption as a hook for the DMCA (on cable and
satellite platforms at least).  So if you're a cablecaster, you
encrypt your signal.  Encryption triggers the DMCA -- it's a
"circumvention" to decrypt without a license.  Then license decryption
only to those who agree to implement the do-not-skip-ads in their
set-top-boxes.

And if Hollywood gets its "analog hole" bill passed, the STBs won't
even be able to pass analog outputs out to other devices that don't
agree to DRM rules.

>  The congress won't do
> that without a _lot_ of bribes, which is not going to happen

I wish I had your confidence!

--Wendy

--
Wendy Seltzer
http://wendy.seltzer.org/blog/