TiVO wants to allow folks to record programs at home and then transfer them to remote locations. They say they have the encryption that will protect these files becoming tradebait on P2P. Big surprise that Hollywood doesn’t like this, but the NFL is in on the defensive too. Washington Post (registration required):

Hollywood studios and the National Football League are seeking to block the maker of the popular TiVo television recorder from expanding its service so that users could watch copies of shows and movies on devices outside their homes.

I would put TiVO (PVR) up there as one of the best inventions in the last 10 years, but it does encourage skipping revenue producing vehicles (commercials) and while I wouldn’t say this is any different than having a VCR and fast forwarding, TiVO makes the process actually fast and fun. The courts have already ruled that VCR recording is ok, so what’s different than taping the NFL game and then beaming that game through your computer to your other home across a Virtual Private Network to yourself? (although I’m sure this violates some copyright, even though it is being done for your own private viewing). The technology is there to do this now and TiVO just wants to make it easier — like they did with the whole VCR revolution.

Did this post make you go hmm?

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