Save Betamax!

[Tequila Zaire]

No this is not a petition to save a dead format. The current situation deals with the Betamax ruling and it's implications to us all.

The ruling basicly allowed the door to open on viewers like you and I to record shows for our own personal use. With the advent of new technology though companies (Hollywood mainly) want to get rid of this ruling...now this would not only effect stuff like TiVo and the tried and true VCR...but ANYTHING that can record media for personal use.

Seems a bit wrong no? Evil some say...and I'm prone to agree since I really like the freedom of being my own content organizer...no commercials, no sitting through lame shows, no god awful promo's for god awful shows on god awful networks that God himself would probably smite off the planet...

This could seriously undermine the freedom we have as an end consumer and more importantly as culture with the freedom to choose the technology WE want not the technology Hollywood and their ilk want us to have...

More detailed info is here.

Now the question all this raises is...are TV networkd, Hollywood, and their supporters crossing a line by using copyright law to control the advance of technology and the rights of the end consumer?

I'm from the VCR generation and I'm not looking to kindly on having the freedom it brought me taken away...I use it to record tons of documentaries and programs of high intellecutal interest (The O.C.) and would hate to return to the days of HAVING to watch a show ONLY when it was on in my market.

[ForrestBlack]

I'm actually really torn on this sort of issue. I'm not sure we are there yet, as far as technology goes, to really do it properly. If shows were really on-demand, then I would support some forms of copy protection. Commercials pay for the production of good shows and without them, there would be less to watch. I think it's important to understand the line between personal convenience and having your cake while eating it too. A good parasite doesn't kill it's host, hahaha...

[Tequila Zaire]

True enough in terms of advertising paying for shows...but I think more shows would be successful if they were traded around like mix cd's...especially for cable. What I would like to see is say a neilson system devised to show what are the most popular shows traded...plus these days advertising is so integrated INTO shows they can figure out how to redo the commercial in a new way...it already surrounds us night and day.

[ForrestBlack]

I think it is important to acknowledge that free entertainment happens because of advertising, and without it, there wouldn't be much to trade around. Radio has ad spots and promotes CD sales and shows. TV has commercials, but is going much more in the old school direction of sponsored shows because TiVO folks skip the commercials. So, getting to see what you want, when you want is cool, but stripping the financials that support it can be detrimental to it's long term survival. I think we should be careful of that, and I think that is a related and perhaps core issue to the Betamax debate.

[Tequila Zaire]

I think it is important to acknowledge that free entertainment happens because of advertising, and without it, there wouldn't be much to trade around. Radio has ad spots and promotes CD sales and shows. TV has commercials, but is going much more in the old school direction of sponsored shows because TiVO folks skip the commercials. So, getting to see what you want, when you want is cool, but stripping the financials that support it can be detrimental to it's long term survival. I think we should be careful of that, and I think that is a related and perhaps core issue to the Betamax debate.

Lately though it seems hollywood would rather take it a step farther into areas of technology control. They fought hard to keep DVD's from hitting the market...they even tried Divx (not the codec but the pay per play disc) and have been pushing for devices like TiVo to be taken off the market...i've seen what they can do when they push their copyrights in favor of fair use...and this just seems more of the same tactics. I can understand why they need to do it...but this is a case of Pandora's Box...and they would be better off dealing with it as a viable distribution option than as a threat.

Advertising as a whole needs to change though...cause it's more of an annoyance than ever. Adult Swim has been doing some really interesting things in terms of promoting its shows...I would love to see other networks take that and evolve it...cause some of those promo's are as inventive and funny as their shows.