[opendtv] Re: Microsoft's Masters: Whose Rules Does Your Media Center Play By?

Never attribute to conspiracy that which is easier explained by incompetence or 
ignorance.

And, somehow you ignore the fact that there have been FOUR MAJOR changes in 
ownership of Universal since the filing of the initial court case in the 
Betamax case.  Not to mention the changes in executives, strategies (they now 
make much money off home content that didn't exist in 1979) and attorneys. 

The only evidence that you have that GE feels the same now as Sidney Sheinberg 
did in 1979 is the name "Universal."

LET ME REPEAT THIS.  CBS asserts the flag at all o&o's for all content, in all 
the transport stream captures I have.  Ron Economos has seen it in FOX 
transport streams.  

What you should be thinking about is the deltas: why did this complaint come 
about on NBC content?  Is it that American Gladiator (ugh!, a bad idea in the 
early 1990s, now in digital) or Medium have less sophisticated or more vocal 
viewers using Vista?

And, I'm not sure if I said it here, but CBS also is generating a decimal 
255/hex FF after the only two bytes that the FCC permits in the rc_descriptor.  
This is something that could result in an FCC fine.

LET ME REPEAT. "Never attribute to conspiracy that which is easier explained by 
incompetence or ignorance."

The alternative is to appear to be foolish.  Repeatedly.

John Willkie

-----Original Message-----
>From: Tom Barry <trbarry@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>Sent: May 25, 2008 4:07 AM
>To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: [opendtv] Re: Microsoft's Masters: Whose Rules Does Your Media Center 
>Play By?
>
>
>
>Richard C. Ramsden wrote:
> > I'm still trying to figure out what GE's goal is in this episode.
>
>I'd guess they were just testing the winds to see what they could get 
>away with, both technically and politically.  And as the corporate owner 
>of the plaintiff in the original Sony vs Universal Supreme Court VCR 
>case maybe GE exec's still feel they have some unfinished business here.
>
>I would like the public to send a message to both GE and Microsoft that 
>overly crippled products will not be purchased, even if those products 
>"make rights holders feel more comfortable releasing their content".
>
>So the more hoopla and flack on this issue the better.  And I'll 
>personally boycott MS Media Center.  I have other alternatives.
>
>- Tom
>
>> Microsoft is in an odd position.  Technically respecting the "broadcast 
>> flag" is illegal.
>> But, since they could claim it's just a bug in their code...
>> I will never buy a computer with vista installed.
>> 
>> I'm still trying to figure out what GE's goal is in this episode.
>> 
>> Monty Solomon wrote:
>>> May 19th, 2008
>>> Microsoft's Masters: Whose Rules Does Your Media Center Play By?
>>> Posted by Danny O'Brien
>>>
>>> While its customers are still puzzling over why Vista Media Center is 
>>> suddenly refusing to record over-the-air NBC digital TV, Microsoft has 
>>> come out with an astounding admission, courtesy of Greg Sandoval at 
>>> CNet News:
>>>
>>>      "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."
>>>
>>> Microsoft's statement shines light on how Microsoft expects Media 
>>> Center to behave. If this is the company's explanation for what users 
>>> are seeing when attempting to record digital NBC broadcasts 
>>> over-the-air, then Microsoft is saying Vista obeys the broadcast flag: 
>>> a requirement rejected by courts and Congress.
>>>
>>> ...
>>>
>>> http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/05/microsofts-masters-whose-rules-does-your-media-cen
>>>  
>>>
>>>
>>>  
>>>  
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>
>-- 
>Tom Barry                  trbarry@xxxxxxxxxxx 
>
> 
> 
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