Tape trading legalities - USA Today article - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Agent 13 · 05-21-2004, 01:22 AM

I found this article regarding tape trading on another tape forum:

from usa today

Online trading of TV episodes grows
By Jefferson Graham

LOS ANGELES — Missed the final episode of Frasier or Friends? Many college kids aren't waiting for the reruns. They're downloading the shows instead.

With millions of unauthorized media files being traded on the
Internet, it's impossible to put an exact number on how many TV
episodes are out there.

But Jorge Gonzalez, who runs Zeropaid.com, a file-sharing guide, says he's seen "a big increase in the last six months for new sites that specialize in trading TV shows."

The Simpsons, Friends, The Sopranos and other shows are readily
available at both Kazaa, the world's most-used file-sharing program, and new sites like eDonkey, TVTorrents.com and Bucktv.net.

BayTSP, a Silicon Valley company that tracks unauthorized Internet file trading, found nearly 20,000 files of popular TV shows like The Simpsons and Alias being offered for free on Wednesday.

The TV industry fears being Napsterized. Record labels blame a
three-year 25% decline in sales on Internet music swapping. Movie studios are fighting online film traders. Now, TV downloading has become "a very serious and growing problem," says Ron Wheeler, senior vice president of Fox Entertainment Group, producer of The Simpsons. The situation is of greater concern, he says, because TV files are smaller than movie files — so easier to download.

Still, unlike music MP3 files, which take minutes to acquire, TV shows can take more than an hour to get.

The TV- and movie-trading programs work with free BitTorrent software. To speed downloading, BitTorrent connects users to many different fragments of the show. They are then pieced together seamlessly on arrival.

The process is more cumbersome than music downloads. But students don't mind. "It's not that much of a bother," says Boston University student Ethan Clay. "You type The Simpsons on your PC, choose an episode, go out to dinner, and come back and watch it."

Some TV shows hit the Internet days before they actually air, says
BayTSP CEO Mark Ishikawa. They are coming from people with access at post-production houses or TV affiliates, he says.

But it's not just those with connections. Hewlett-Packard, Gateway and Dell make Media Center PCs with built-in TV tuners to record shows onto hard drives for personal use. Also, $50 TV "capture cards" can be inserted into any desktop for similar results. Once the shows are digitized, they can easily be transferred to the Internet.

As with sharing songs or movies, it is illegal to swap TV shows
online. But unlike the music industry, which has sued more than 2,500 people for trading songs, no one's been sued for putting TV shows online. Industry executives say that's under consideration. The industry also is pushing legislation that would scramble TV content, making swapping impossible.

tvfan0101 · 05-22-2004, 10:14 AM

N/A

algebra74 · 05-22-2004, 06:19 PM

what does "scrambling" mean?

tvfan0101 · 05-22-2004, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by algebra74
what does "scrambling" mean?

The way I understand it "scrambling" would do something to the actual signal so that it can be viewed on the television but not converted to another format. I didn't know it was possible to do that, actually. I know there are some cable channels that I don't pay for but if I go to the channel I can hear it, the picture is just scrambled out. If I paid for the channel I'd get the clear picture and clear sound.

I'd have to look into it to be able to understand the technical aspect.

Agent 13 · 05-22-2004, 08:52 PM

tvobscurities,

I couldn't have explained it better.

battleseven · 05-22-2004, 09:11 PM

but this would also kill the ability to record tv shows on VCRs and DVD recorders, making them both obsolete wouldn't it. If so, what would be the point in owning either anymore.

tvfan0101 · 05-22-2004, 10:27 PM

N/A

05-21-2004, 01:22 AM	#1
Agent 13 Member Senior Member Join Date: Feb 02, 2003 Location: Good ol' USA Posts: 1,510	Tape trading legalities - USA Today article I found this article regarding tape trading on another tape forum: from usa today Online trading of TV episodes grows By Jefferson Graham LOS ANGELES — Missed the final episode of Frasier or Friends? Many college kids aren't waiting for the reruns. They're downloading the shows instead. With millions of unauthorized media files being traded on the Internet, it's impossible to put an exact number on how many TV episodes are out there. But Jorge Gonzalez, who runs Zeropaid.com, a file-sharing guide, says he's seen "a big increase in the last six months for new sites that specialize in trading TV shows." The Simpsons, Friends, The Sopranos and other shows are readily available at both Kazaa, the world's most-used file-sharing program, and new sites like eDonkey, TVTorrents.com and Bucktv.net. BayTSP, a Silicon Valley company that tracks unauthorized Internet file trading, found nearly 20,000 files of popular TV shows like The Simpsons and Alias being offered for free on Wednesday. The TV industry fears being Napsterized. Record labels blame a three-year 25% decline in sales on Internet music swapping. Movie studios are fighting online film traders. Now, TV downloading has become "a very serious and growing problem," says Ron Wheeler, senior vice president of Fox Entertainment Group, producer of The Simpsons. The situation is of greater concern, he says, because TV files are smaller than movie files — so easier to download. Still, unlike music MP3 files, which take minutes to acquire, TV shows can take more than an hour to get. The TV- and movie-trading programs work with free BitTorrent software. To speed downloading, BitTorrent connects users to many different fragments of the show. They are then pieced together seamlessly on arrival. The process is more cumbersome than music downloads. But students don't mind. "It's not that much of a bother," says Boston University student Ethan Clay. "You type The Simpsons on your PC, choose an episode, go out to dinner, and come back and watch it." Some TV shows hit the Internet days before they actually air, says BayTSP CEO Mark Ishikawa. They are coming from people with access at post-production houses or TV affiliates, he says. But it's not just those with connections. Hewlett-Packard, Gateway and Dell make Media Center PCs with built-in TV tuners to record shows onto hard drives for personal use. Also, $50 TV "capture cards" can be inserted into any desktop for similar results. Once the shows are digitized, they can easily be transferred to the Internet. As with sharing songs or movies, it is illegal to swap TV shows online. But unlike the music industry, which has sued more than 2,500 people for trading songs, no one's been sued for putting TV shows online. Industry executives say that's under consideration. The industry also is pushing legislation that would scramble TV content, making swapping impossible.
	__________________ It often requires more courage to dare to do right than to fear to do wrong. Abraham Lincoln

05-22-2004, 10:14 AM	#2
tvfan0101 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Sep 29, 2003 Posts: 961	Re: Tape trading legalities - USA Today article N/A
	Last edited by tvfan0101; 03-30-2011 at 10:39 PM.

05-22-2004, 10:27 PM	#7
tvfan0101 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Sep 29, 2003 Posts: 961	N/A
	Last edited by tvfan0101; 03-30-2011 at 10:39 PM.

05-22-2004, 06:19 PM	#3
algebra74 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 14, 2004 Posts: 337	what does "scrambling" mean?

05-22-2004, 08:52 PM	#5
Agent 13 Member Senior Member Join Date: Feb 02, 2003 Location: Good ol' USA Posts: 1,510	tvobscurities, I couldn't have explained it better.

05-22-2004, 09:11 PM	#6
battleseven Member Forum Hawk Join Date: Apr 27, 2004 Posts: 4	but this would also kill the ability to record tv shows on VCRs and DVD recorders, making them both obsolete wouldn't it. If so, what would be the point in owning either anymore.