PS3 vs. 360! NBC vs. ABC!

This guy has a serious inferiority complex.

5/13/2008 11:06:55 PM

He's just a fucking idiot with opinions that he believes to be fact.

5/13/2008 11:12:03 PM

i hope it IS just affecting MCE units, as i'm running mythbuntu and (as of yet) have not had any problems...though the only NBC show i record (i think) is the office

5/14/2008 9:15:46 AM

yeah, it'll be interesting to see if they try to pull the same shit on their higher profile shows (thu night lineup, i'm looking at you!).

I'm guessing Microsoft COULD make media center "compatible" with this flag. Possibly by disabling the ability to rip/burn that file within Media Center. But will they?

[Edited on May 14, 2008 at 12:20 PM. Reason : d]

5/14/2008 12:19:45 PM

theres gotta be a way to disable it/ignore it....maybe that 30pg thread talks about it

5/14/2008 12:25:18 PM

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080514-nbc-vista-copy-protection-snafu-reminds-us-why-drm-stinks.html

Quote :

"Boneheaded mistakes like the one apparently made by NBC and Microsoft Monday night will only serve to make alternative means of obtaining content more attractive."

[Edited on May 14, 2008 at 5:23 PM. Reason : .]

5/14/2008 5:21:47 PM

My Snapstream's BeyondTV recorded it just fine

5/18/2008 10:06:42 PM

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9946780-7.html

Quote :

"Microsoft has acknowledged that Windows Media Centers will block users from recording TV shows at the request of a broadcaster. "Microsoft included technologies in Windows based on rules set forth by the (Federal Communications Commission)," a Microsoft spokeswoman wrote in an e-mail to CNET News.com. "As part of these regulations, Windows Media Center fully adheres to the flags used by broadcasters and content owners to determine how their content is distributed and consumed." The software company was responding to questions about why some users of Windows Vista Media Center were prevented from recording NBC Universal TV shows, American Gladiator and Medium on Monday night. The "rules," in which the spokeswoman is apparently referring to are those proposed by the FCC, which would require software and hardware makers honor "broadcast flags." The flags are code that broadcasters can insert into the data stream of TV shows that typically require restrictions on the recording of the shows. What she didn't say is that the "rules" aren't rules at all. The courts struck down the FCC's proposal in 2005, saying the regulator lacked the authority to tell electronics makers how to interpret the signals they receive. Since then, Microsoft and other manufacturers have retained the option of whether to honor the flags. News that the world's largest software maker has voluntarily agreed to help broadcasters control the recording of their shows is bound to outrage enthusiasts of digital video recorders, as it represents the biggest threat to the practice known as time shifting since the FCC's attempt to require flag adherence. "Microsoft has put the requirements of broadcasters above what consumers want," said Danny O'Brien, a staffer at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an advocacy group for Internet users that is looking into Monday's block. "They've imposed restrictions way beyond what the law requires. Customers need to know who Microsoft is listening to and how that affects their equipment. Right now, the only way customers know what Microsoft has agreed to is when the technology they've bought suddenly stops working. Microsoft needs to come clean and tell its customers what deals it has made." The question of whether NBC Universal issued a flag for American Gladiator has yet to be answered. The network said last week that it needed time to look into the matter. Microsoft's spokeswoman did not offer any information on whether NBC Universal activated a flag. The software company did, however, inform us that accidents do happen. "In some cases content may be incorrectly flagged in the actual broadcast, which may affect the consumer's TV experience," Microsoft's spokeswoman wrote. "The success of the entire distribution chain is dependent on all involved maintaining the necessary checks and quality control so that coding is correctly applied thereby avoiding any unexpected outcome."

okay, so m$ admits to adhering to undisclosed rules set by the FCC?

boo.

5/19/2008 3:54:59 PM

These are the same people who donate a percentage of every Zune sale to the RIAA as some kind of twisted atonement for potential music piracy.

5/19/2008 4:01:09 PM

victory is ours!

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/06/10/microsoft-releases-a-patch-for-the-broadcast-flag/

6/11/2008 7:22:38 AM

still affects units if yoru on digital it seems.

6/11/2008 9:27:41 AM