IP: "Tivo is theft" and SonicBlue issues are closely linked.

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: "Trei, Peter" <ptrei () rsasecurity com>
Date: Fri, 3 May 2002 16:43:03 -0400
To: "'farber () cis upenn edu'" <farber () cis upenn edu>
Subject: "Tivo is theft" and SonicBlue issues are closely linked.


Below is a fuller quote from the interview at
http://www.inside.com/product/product.asp?entity=CableWorld&pf_ID=7A2ACA71-F
AAD-41FC-A100-0B8A11C30373

[I'm sure most people's mailers are going to
mangle that URL]



- start quote -

JK is Jamie Kellmer, CEO of Turne
Broadcasting. CW is the Cableworld
interviewer. Note that this is one
small segment of a wide ranging
interview.

JK: [...] I'm a big believer we have to make
television more convenient or we will drive
the penetration of PVRs and things like
that, which I'm not sure is good for the
cable industry or the broadcast industry or
the networks. 

CW: Why not? 

JK: Because of the ad skips.... It's theft.
Your contract with the network when you
get the show is you're going to watch the
spots. Otherwise you couldn't get the show
on an ad-supported basis. Any time you
skip a commercial or watch the button
you're actually stealing the programming.

CW: What if you have to go to the
bathroom or get up to get a Coke?

JK: I guess there's a certain amount of
tolerance for going to the bathroom. But if
you formalize it and you create a device
that skips certain second increments,
you've got that only for one reason, unless
you go to the bathroom for 30 seconds.
They've done that just to make it easy for
someone to skip a commercial.

- end quote -

My immediate thought when reading this was
"Does Mr Kelmer carefully read every ad
in every magazine and newspaper he
encounters? If not, why not?"

This is not new. I recall (but cannot
cite) hearing a network exec expressing
similar feelings about people who fast
forward through ads on VCRs (and indeed,
my home VCR has an automagic function to
mark out ads on just-recorded shows, and
ff through them on replay).

It's worth noting that this sentiment is
part of what's behind the SonicBlue
posting made earlier today (Tivos and
SonicBlue Replays are both PVRs)
the magistrate has ordered SonicBlue
to determine how many
ads are being skipped. In that case,
while I'd argue that there may be a
legitimate copyright interest in finding
out how often pay tv shows get sent to
non-paying viewers over the net, I cannot
for the life of me understand where the
he thinks there is a state interest
in knowing about ad skips - regardless of
what Mr. Kelmer says above, there is no
legal contract which says the viewer
must pay attention to any part of the
broadcast whatsoever. The frequency of
ad-skipping may be of interest to the
advertisers and broadcasters,
but since there is no criminal act,
it's really beyond the purview of the
courts (IMHO, and IANAL, of course).
It looks like the content providers are
abusing the courts to get information
they have no legal entitlement to

I understand that some DVDs now force
the user to sit through the previews
before they will let him or her watch
the movie. 

Peter Trei

Disclaimer: MY opinions! No one
elses!



------ End of Forwarded Message

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