Going to jail for fast forwarding commercials

Ok I'm watching NBC this morning around 7ish, and their talking about a bill thats trying to get passed through on making it a criminal offense to fast forward through movie ads and commercials in your own home!

So you could go to jail for ffwing through these commercials on the dvd or video that you rent...

I'll try and find a link... This is just really insane... ok found a link:

If the proposed changes are to be interpreted literally, it may become an offense to ship VCRs that contain a fast-forward button and the very useful "skip xxx seconds" feature of most PVRs will also be deemed illegal.

Yes, in their movie-industry-funded lust to erode the public's rights, the US lawmakers are planning to make it illegal to skip past the ads in any copyrighted work or broadcast.


link

[edit on 18-11-2004 by TrueLies]

[edit on 18-11-2004 by TrueLies]

how would anyone know if you do it or not ?

Just like when watching the NFL, there's the blurb about recordig, reproducing the program, but i've recorded a game or two and definitley talk about the game etc...

I just don't know how they could monitor this... I never watch the previews at home... straight to the movie.. give me my entertainment...

I would imagine they would know the same way they know what movie you rented on pay per view (I'm speaking of cable), they know what error codes your cable box is putting out so I guess they could know what you are doing with the machine.
I don't see the logic in making it illegal to fast forward...thats the whole idea behind a DVR (Digital Video Recorder) and the cable companies, sat companies ,openly advertise it as a feature. Sounds to me like some special interest group is getting silly ideas about losing money .......

I'm wondering if this is what you are talking about TrueLies, which applies to DVD's

"Smith's bill alarmed some consumer advocates and consumer electronics makers over language that stated no changes or deletions could be made "to commercial advertisements, or to network or station promotional announcements, that would otherwise be performed or displayed before, during or after the performance of the motion picture."

www.washingtonpost.com...


or perhaps this


DVD makers have found that they can force captive audiences to sit through as many commercials as they want by simply making it impossible – and effectively illegal – to fast forward through commercials at the beginning of the disks they sell.

www.netcaucus.org...

That's the one.... I read something about the "removal" of the fast forward button.

Having seen what passes for TV in the USA I don't know how you guys put up with it. Seriously.

The ad breaks are so frequent and so long that I really started to forget what I was watching.

In the UK's commercial 'terrestrial tv' programming ad breaks seem to be limited to around 2mins in every 15 minute slot.

On UK commercial satellite (Sky, a Murdock company has the monopoly here and carries the various channels) it is more like 3mins in every 10 minute slot.

....and in the USA it seems to have little structure at all and 4 and 5 minute breaks are not uncommon every 10 minutes (if you're lucky!).

I recall that the 'PDC' (program delivery control) was originally developed to allow video recording to automatically pause to omit the ad breaks when videoing.
The ad industry went nuts (like everyone doesn't skip the ads anyway ) and got the system restricted and turned into a general program 'tag' to say when a show began or ended.

I suppose this is just a continuation of that insanity.

.....then they wonder why viewing figures are down.

This should just about kill it off sales of video recorders and DVD recorders completely......and if you can't skip the boring ads at the start of a DVD it is guaranteed to slow their sales down significantly
(imagine sitting down with the kids to endure the millionth showing od whatever - as kids do - and having to also suffer the umteenth jingles and retarded 'jokes' and etc etc.....you get the idea?
Talk about attempting to indoctrinate!)

Some of these sales people, they're soooooo bright, eh?

[edit on 18-11-2004 by sminkeypinkey]

[edit on 19-11-2004 by sminkeypinkey]

I just can't believe that this could be done. As if we aren't bombarded with enough advertizing as it is.

One of my son's DVDs has this feature and it still burns my tail when I put it on. You have to sit through many minutes of previews and ads before the menu comes up. I have not bought another DVD or toys from that character since.

that the Patriot Act is creating the MEANS [by legislating in FAVOR of universal surveillance] by which every TV monitor will be surveilled.

Anybody they want to prosecute for ANYTHING, they can pick up on one of these "trivial" charges--and suit them up for PRISON INDEFINITELY.

This is part of a police state--having trivial charges you can pin on somebody you don't happen to like.

We're being scammed. This is the >NEW< Soviet Union, by another name.

That's the most rediculous thing I've ever heard of! No one in their right minds would go along with it and when they find out they've been arrested because of that they're going to sue and their will be an outrage.

I wouldnt worry about the skip button being disabled on your DVD player. All you have to do is hit the menu button on your DVD remot to directly access the DVD menu. From there, you can choose what you want to watch. As far as watching "On Demand" Digital cable, You dont have to order movies from them. Stick to the DVD player for your movie watching experience and the Cable companies will have no choice but to let us have our skip back

There are just to many ways around this to make it an effective law.

The NWO types in Gummint want a way to get at DISSENTERS.

This is it.

This Law will prosecute HARMLESS PEOPLE for nothing.

This Law will permit the Gummint to go after DISSENTERS who make life uncomfortable; WHISTLEBLOWERS who make life uncomfortable; LEGISLATORS who "get out of line."

Congress will pass it--to help get rid of the people who are saying NO to tyranny and dictatorship.

You WATCH!!

let me tell you something corporations really piss me off i mean really piss me off. you know im really not surprised. anything to brain wash us into giving them more money. damn money.

The U.S. just loves to jail its citizens. I guess having run out of young African-Americans to imprison they are seeking new demographics to fill the gulag. I love the U.S. but its a frickin crazy house sometimes.

This is a buch of bull. If it were made a reality i would blatantly disobey because I disagree so much with this and would love to defacate on who ever would try to punish me for such a petty thing. What next a ban on muting commercials?

SHHHHHHHHHH! Dont give them any ideas!

Not only is such a law futile and unenforcable, even if it is true, but already technology has overtaken such a mindset.

Im hanging out for a dvd recorder with a hard drive so that I can record TV, cut the adds burn the program to dvd, record and watch TV on different chanels at the same time, see instant replays while the TV is still running. etc

Give it 5 years and everyone will have one.

I've found that with some newer releases that I can't simply hit the menu button to bypass all the crap. I get a "That operation is not available" message. Guess I'll dust off the ol' BetaMax...

HAHA WOOHOO Old beta I remember those, wasnt that before stone scribing or something???

Target sells a pioneer DVD player for $60 dollars that supports everything, and hooks up to everythin. Progressive scane even. Thats what I have. I get the same error you do, but only with the FF buton or the CH skip button, and only at the beginning while the commercials and trailers are playing. If I hit my menu button, usually it will take me straight to the menu. On the rare occasion that I get the same error from that, I can hit the setup button, and the DVD player will stop playing and go to the default setup screen for my DVD player. From there I can choose where in the disk I want to resume playing. There is ALWAYS a way around it.

Well, speaking of multiple tuners and burning shows to DVD can already be done. You can build a Tivo type device that can do all this and more. There is even a flavor of linux that comes with software built right in. Check out snapstream.com, mythtv.org or freevo.org.