[mythtv-users] Switching away from comcast to online streams

Stephen P. Villano stephen.p.villano at gmail.com
Sun Jan 26 18:26:29 UTC 2014


On 1/26/14, 1:13 PM, CACook at Quantum-Sci.com wrote:
> On Sun, 26 Jan 2014 12:06:18 -0500
> "Stephen P. Villano" <stephen.p.villano at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Still, we do need to generate political support for protecting
>> consumer choice, while still protecting intellectual property. Law
>> tends to lag behind technological development. This is true both
>> because of our rapid development of new technologies and because
>> politicians are, as a rule, clueless about technology in general,
>> especially new technologies. Indeed, what politicians know best is
>> how to get elected and reelected.
> This will never happen, thanks to the attitude of a third of those present, that the rights of giant wealthy corporations trump those of their customers.  You will never, never get a corporation's permission if they do not benefit from it, so by Jove you shouldn't ask.  It comes down to their interests, or mine.
>
> Used to be, there was such a thing as limits on IP which allowed creators to profit for a given and known period, but which then ultimately put everything in the public domain.  The theory is that this is necessary in order to advance society, and not create a permanent 'IP royalty'.  And used to be, there was something called the Sony-Betamax decision, which affirmed personal and academic use.  
>
> But avaricious radical self-interest of the most wealthy and powerful corporations bent our laws to run everything their way, and directly -against- the interests of the Public at large.  And some here on this listserv willingly, reflexively kowtow and pledge their fealty to the Most Powerful, by criticizing reason, and amazingly arguing against their own best interests.  DMCA was enacted, and look at the effect;  not only has this forced people to cheat for the music they want, but as a result revenue for the actual artist dropped like a rock because of downloading.  And the middlemen who got the DMCA enacted are practically out of a job.  They forced their hand a little too hard.
>
> Well I'm not asking permission.  I am paying for all my content, but I am recording it as I please with the R5000-HD.  Let it be known that this device is widely reviled by Myth devs for purely political reasons, but I have single-handedly kept it running up to the latest Myth nightlies.  However I have stopped trying to convince people, and am just taking care of myself now.  Devs hate it for purely emotional and political reasons, that's too bad. Their justification is they are frightened that it may circumvent DMCA and they may get a cease and desist... but this shows they don't understand it.  An actual commercial company provided many years' support for the R5000 (SageTV) and -never- got a cease and desist, because it does -not- (Read: *NOT*) circumvent encryption nor provide free content.
>
> I tried and tried to tell you guys for four years but nobody would listen.  But at least I now have seven years of pure HD digital video stored, compressed by Dish's $50k encoders and not de/re-compressed...  just like God intended.
>
> That said, I am now looking around for something besides Myth, as nothing has apparently changed since version 0.25.  Still can't archive shows.  Still can't cut commercials for H.264.  Still can't do some of the neat things of other apps.  Setup menus are still a disorganized hash.  I know devs are happy with the way things are, and they have their inviolate fiefdoms set up to protect, but it is past time for improvement.  With another application I may lose my R5000 support, so it will have to be worth it.  But it is time to look around.
>
> I have not written this to start a bickering match, and I won't be drawn into one. 
>
>  Just to say 'I tried to tell ya.'
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
"Let it be known that this device is widely reviled by Myth devs for purely political reasons, but I have single-handedly kept it running up to the latest Myth nightlies."
"
That said, I am now looking around for something besides Myth, as nothing has apparently changed since version 0.25.  Still can't archive shows.  Still can't cut commercials for H.264.  Still can't do some of the neat things of other apps.  Setup menus are still a disorganized hash."

Well, if you have the skills as outlined in the first sentence, there is no reason you shouldn't be able to fork MythTV to your own satisfaction and fix any flaws you perceive present.

As I've not been party to any conversations where you claim political reasons, I'll not comment there.
The point is, it's an open source project. You can trivially fork it to your heart's content and make it into something different without a problem.
So, to be blunt, all I see is piss and vinegar, finger pointing and a desire to ignore the law since you dislike it, rather than pressuring to change the law and abide by it.
Overall, your way is not the best way to induce change. It is a great way to end up on the wrong end of a DMCA action.



More information about the mythtv-users mailing list