[mythtv-users] tv guide line-up free

David Shay david at shay.net
Tue Sep 4 20:40:12 UTC 2007


On 9/4/07, Robert Current <robert.current at gmail.com> wrote:
<Snip irrelevant stuff>

> TitanTV offers free XML listing data to download, IF you have a
> partner product (Adaptec, ATi, Hauppauge, etc...).  Anyone willing to
> work on it should find it is actually a more obvious source of data
> than scrapers, for testing you can pull listings even without the
> accounts by just tweaking the URL for the XML data:
> Line ups for zip:
> http://data.titantv.com/dataservice.asmx/RegisterUserZip?UUID=EGU7TZLA1JA94H679Z9WVV5ETEEG17&Zip=20176
>
> Channels listings:
> http://data.titantv.com/dataservice.asmx/RequestLineupData?UUID=EGU7TZLA1JA94H679Z9WVV5ETEEG17&Zip=20176&ProviderId=A_61513
>
> Program data
> http://data.titantv.com/dataservice.asmx/RequestProgramData?UUID=EGU7TZLA1JA94H679Z9WVV5ETEEG17&ProviderId=A_61513&DaysRequested=1
>
> Here's where the topic dies, or Michael T. Dean shows up to call me
> Satan and say it's all illegal, or both…

Interesting stuff.  I will admit to having played around with this
myself in the past (as well as with the Yahoo and MSN ones.....)
Here's the catch.  See that nice little string after UUID.  TitanTV
could disable that UUID in about 2 minutes if they felt like it.

Also, let's not confuse these XML-generating URL's with the remote
scheduling service that ties in with the web-site that TitanTV runs.
They are VERY different things.  These URL's are meant for approved
partner products, of which I'm assuming you are not, since I sincerely
doubt you got that UUID directly from Titan.  In fact, I know you
didn't, since I've seen that specific UUID before.  The remote
scheduling service does nothing like this at all, in fact it has
nothing to do with listings data at all.  All it does is basically
generate a local manual recording to GBPVR.  Could we do that in Myth?
 Sure.  Would we want to?  I don't think so.  Look at all the lost
flexibility -- no recurring programs, no duplicate detection, etc.

Same issue applies with the Yahoo and MSN URLs.  Sure they generate
XML, that makes them great in one sense.  Get's past most of the
screen-scraping problems. Trouble is you are effectively violating the
TOS of something.  For instance, the Yahoo Go-TV application that you
reverse-engineered to determine those URL's, etc.  The MSN website
that you reverse-engineered to determine those URL's, etc.  A TOS is
violated somewhere along the line for every single one of these that I
have seen.

Sorry, didn't mean to confuse this debate with facts.


More information about the mythtv-users mailing list