[opendtv] Steal This Show

Steal This Show

By LORNE MANLY and JOHN MARKOFF
January 30, 2005

ISAAC RICHARDS didn't think of himself as a rebel, or a shock to the 
well-lubricated system of the television industry. He was merely 
unhappy with the cable box provided by his local operator.

Dismayed by the sluggish channel-changing capability and the sparsely 
informative program guide, he decided to build a better cable box 
from scratch. Today, nearly three years since Mr. Richards, a 
26-year-old computer software programmer in Willoughby, Ohio, 
embarked on his quest, hundreds of thousands of do-it-yourself 
television viewers are using the free software program he wrote, 
MythTV, to turn desktop personal computers into customized cable 
boxes, complete with the ability to record shows, surf the Web and 
strip out unwanted commercials.

The members of the MythTV community, who now do not have to pay 
monthly fees to rent set-top boxes or digital video recorders, have 
plenty of more mischievous company in trying to outwit the television 
industry. Millions of viewers are now watching illegal copies of 
television programs - even full seasons copied from popular DVD's - 
that are flitting about the Internet, thanks to other new programs 
that allow users to upload and download the large files quickly. And 
entrepreneurial souls are busily concocting even newer applications, 
including one that searches the Internet for illegal copies of any 
television shows you may desire and automatically downloads them to 
your computer.

These high-tech tricks address desires that have become standard in 
an age of instant media gratification: the desire to watch what you 
want, when and how you want it. And they're turning television - 
traditionally beamed into homes at the convenience of the broadcast 
and cable networks - into something more flexible, highly portable 
and commercial free.

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/arts/television/30manl.html?ex=1264741200&en=e82b9db497df2928&ei=5090



 
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:

- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at 
FreeLists.org 

- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word 
unsubscribe in the subject line.

Other related posts: