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FCC hands Hollywood the keys to your PC, home theater and future
,----[ Quote ]
| The FCC has given Hollywood permission to
| activate the "Selective Output Control"
| technologies in your set-top box. These are
| hidden flags that allow the MPAA to
| deactivate parts of your home theater
| depending on what you're watching. And it
| sucks. As Dan Gillmor notes, "Fans of old
| TV science fiction will remember the Outer
| Limits. Given Hollywood's victory today at
| the FCC -- they'll be able to reach over
| the lines and disable functions on your TV
| -- the intro to the show takes on modern
| relevance."
|
| The FCC says that they're doing this
| because they believe that if they do so,
| the MPAA will start releasing first-run
| movies (the ones that are still in
| theaters) for TV. They say that Hollywood
| won't make these movies available unless
| they get Selectable Output Control because
| SOC will stop piracy.
|
| This is ridiculous.
`----
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/07/fcc-hands-hollywood.html
(Holywood attacks your freedom)
,----[ Quote ]
| Dan Gillmor: FCC hands Hollywood the keys
| to your PC, home theater and future.
|
| The Free World will increasingly need to
| reject computers designed to be controlled
| by Hollywood, and use computers which were
| not designed to restrict their users. But
| these are unusual computers, and that is a
| problem for people who want to install a
| free operating system on a machine that was
| not chosen with freedom in mind. They find
| that the devices in the machine won't run
| without proprietary software. Often this is
| because Hollywood has demanded it.
|
| This problem contributes to the popularity
| of nonfree GNU/Linux distros that include
| the nonfree drivers and firmware for those
| machines, distros that weaken our community
| by corrupting many of its members.
|
| The Hollywood movie companies base their
| arguments on a false premise: that they
| deserve to be able to profit. Since they
| have attacked our freedom, what they
| deserve is to lose everything and cease to
| exist.
|
| Think of this, next time someone suggests
| you pay to watch a Hollywood movie. It's
| feeding your enemies. If your children are
| going to watch, it is bad for them too.
`----
http://www.stallman.org/archives/2010-mar-jun.html#09%20May%202010%20%28Holywood%20attacks%20your%20freedom%29
Recent:
Comcast Disables VCR Scheduling In New Guide
,----[ Quote ]
| "Comcast has quietly launched a new on-screen
| guide for its cable boxes. What they're not
| advertising is that they've removed the
| ability to schedule VCR-compatible channel
| flipping any time more than a few hours in
| advance for people who don't buy the
| $20/month DVR service. What this means is
| that VCR owners are now forced to pay for
| Comcast's $20/month DVR service or else start
| their recordings manually. For us techies
| there might be a way around this, but
| ordinary VCR enthusiasts and owners of other
| recorders are left in the dust. Anyone know a
| good antitrust lawyer?"
`----
http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/04/11/2256251/Comcast-Disables-VCR-Scheduling-In-New-Guide
Comcast Tech Support vs Linux user
,----[ Quote ]
| It appears that Comcast has no idea how to
| handle someone with an IQ over 30. This
| individual just wants setup fancast to watch
| hbo programming on his computer. Clearly
| Comcastic doesnât know how to handle such a
| complicated question and the madness begins.
|
| The below is a cut and paste of the IM
| discussion with Comcast this individual has.
`----
http://www.tribbleagency.com/?p=6865
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