[mythtv-users] Is it going to get harder and harder to get the content we want in MythTV?

Joe Borne joe.borne at gmail.com
Fri Sep 12 17:35:34 UTC 2008


> Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:13:34 -0400
> From: "Johnny Russ" <jruss at mit.edu>
> The recent posts about Blu-ray, and this announcement today from
> Microsoft (Microsoft
> PBDA platform<http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/12/microsofts-pbda-platform-makes-big-content-happy-should-make-t/>),
> bring up the ominous feeling I have had for some time that it is going to
> get more and more difficult to get the content I want in MythTV. I quote
> from the link:
>
> "In short, this system enables the "PC-TV hardware ecosystem to integrate
> virtually any free or premium TV service into Windows Media Center," which
> keeps content guardians ultra-stoked while giving consumers more choice when
> it comes to TV tuning. Essentially, PBDA gives OEMs and tuner-makers the
> ability to develop and ship wares for WMC "regardless of geographic location
> or television standard."
>
> I would rather not have the discussion turn into a Microsoft bashing
> session, but I would rather like to know where people see MythTV going over
> the next 10 or 15 years as the platforms for TV distribution go through the
> changes we see coming. It seems to me that, excluding OTA content, all the
> rest of the content is heading into protected, encrypted platforms. I have
> never been pleased with the setup of recieving a digital signal, then
> letting the cable box decode that to an analog signal, just so I can
> re-encode it again. But it seems like even that will become more
> problematic, rather than easier, as things move forward. Are MythTV users
> always going to be stuck hacking various devices to get something half way
> decent? Or is there any hope that MythTV could integrate into one of these
> new delivery systems like Tru2Way, one of these MS PBDA cards, or whatever
> it is that comes along?
> -------------- next part --------------


Well, this is a subject of great interest to me. I am seeing this
issue pulled in both directions. As much as some content providers are
pulling the "old media" industries (cable, satellite) into encrypted
formats, user advocates and more forward thinking content providers
(google, hulu etc) are pushing things the opposite. I know arguments
can be made about Google & Hulu, but hear me out.

I've always maintained that encryption, proprietary formats, CCI Bit
content blocking etc will only persist until we hit what I call "The
Soccer Mom tolerance limit". If you look back in list archives I've
posted about this before. But in essence, when video media becomes
portable enough (it already is) and pervasive enough (like mp3's -
we're not there yet, but getting close) the day will come when moving
media between systems without interference will come onto the radar of
the average person. DRM is now dying off because resistance by average
people proved too great for media companies to persist in enforcing
it. Once DRM-free media became available by most online distributors,
the whole schema collapsed. Now the environment for online music is
striking a better balance between restricted and DRM-free media. This
balance seems to be shifting steadily towards DRM-free with no end in
sight. Visual media, or multimedia (music videos, series based video
like TV shows, movies etc) are steadily progressing into the portable
presentation systems we have today like iPods.  The only reason
there's not more of it is because no one has really struck upon the
right balance between the quality of the user experience and the
portability of the device. The iPod created this for music and also
brought along the other critical factor - an ecosystem to support the
device.

In the near future, probably in the next 3 years, some enterprising
company (quite possibly Apple again) is going to hit that vector
squarely. That in and of itself won't explode media encryption, but
the "Soccer Mom tolerance limit" will do it. Sooner or later what will
happen is a scenario like this...

1. Soccer mom has three tots under 8 yrs old.
2. Life necessitates she has to transport them a lot.
3. Soccer mom grabs "Finding Nemo 8 - Adventures in Shark Dentistry"
off the home media system and transfers it to the media system in the
Miniva/SUV/etc.
4. After hitting the road, Soccer mom turns on vehicle media system to
play FN8 for tots and gets the message that she does not have rights
to play this media on this device due to copyright restrictions.
5. Soccer mom has to listen to whiny, crying, bored tots for hours.
6. Soccer mom has a very, very bad day.
7. Soccer mom complains to Soccer dad about situation.
8. Soccer dad (or mom)  send feedback to company or looks for new
media system that will allow transfers.

Repeat this (loop number of soccer moms in world multiplied by movies
and media systems). Other scenarios are easy to image with similar
conclusions.

The end result will be the exact same pressures that caused the media
companies to cave in and allow iTunes/Wal-Mart/Amazon etc to offer
DRM-free versions of music. Eventually download media prices will
lower to the price tolerance level needed to support the business
ecosystem (or some other way of generating revenue from the situation
will arise) and we will end up with a situation similar to online
music now.

Also, the cable companies HATE the current arrangement. It's a PAIN
for them to maintain and they get no benefit from it, only user
resentment. Recently a cable company (anyone has the link, please feel
free to post) won a lawsuit that entitles them to store any and all
media transmitted from media companies through their system and
rebroadcast it to users on-demand.

Companies like YouTube, Hulu and Google are deploying systems that
allow on-demand viewing of TV shows, even going back 10 or 20 years or
more. Minimal advertising is imposed.

In the end I foresee a system that combines instant on-demand delivery
of stored media in compressed formats from cable/satellite providers,
on-demand delivery via internet of current and archival media, and
free OTA and cable/satellite delivered content. Most, if not all of
this will be DRM free, or available with few restrictions.

The strength of MythTV is that it is not tied to delivery systems. It
can adapt and I see it becoming a great delivery platform for all of
these new systems. I'm currently playing with a method of parsing Hulu
RSS feeds into a menu system that appears in MythTV to allow me to
watch any Hulu content on the TV.

PS - the HDPVR is a great stop-gap solution. I have one on my X-mas
list. But sooner or later the Cable Co's will ge around to removing
those pesky analog HD outputs from out cable boxes. Or simply turning
them off.


Just my $.02. I could be wrong, it's happened before - just ask my wife.


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