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TiVo rolls over for Hollywood
Once upon a time, TiVo positioned its DVR devices as the salvation of Joe Couch Potato, - it even aired TV ads that showed network execs getting tossed out a window. But now, with former NBC executive Tom Rogers as CEO and president, TiVo seems to be obeying Hollywood's every whim.

The latest surrender: TiVo has adopted copy-protection software from Macrovision that limits how long a recording can be kept on a Tivo hard drive before it's deleted. The copy restrictions were only supposed to apply to pay-per-view movies and video-on-demand programming -- but they seem to be spreading. On Zatz Not Funny, Dave Zatz reports that a 37-year-old Fox movie got tagged for deletion after one viewing. Boing Boing says that Fox's tagging of an old movie was either "sloppy or malicious," and suggests that TiVo is welching on its promise to let viewers watch shows at their leisure.

What do you think? Should TiVo have stood up to Hollywood?
Posted by Owen Thomas 11:22 AM 10 Comments comment | Add a Comment

Who cares what Tivo does? They are being marginalized more everyday by other boxes that can do the same thing, and more, but without the big brother implications.
Once content is inside the walls of my home, I will use it as I please, and I will NEVER support a product that tells me otherwise.
Posted By Don, San Jose CA : 1:28 PM  

I believe TiVo Should have stood up to Hollywood. If you are selling a product that allows you to record TV shows at your leisure to be watched when you choose to watch them, when you want to watch them, you shouldn't be haveing those shows deleted because of copy right infringement. I mean what is the point of recording something if you can't watch it when you choose to?
Posted By Mike, Tennessee : 1:53 PM  

I will not renew my TiVo Subcription. I may as well get the cable company version.
Posted By Jeff, Union, Kentucky : 2:35 PM  

tivo should remember WHo pays those monthly fees, and buys the product and it ain't hollywood. It's me the consumer and guess what there are 5 people waiting in line to replace them. The company that tries to control the consumer will die, as they alwys do. The consumer is king
Posted By wesley, houston,tx : 2:43 PM  

Sooner or later it will happen to everyone and I blame it on the Digital Rights Management s/w that got pushed through congress. Pretty soon you'll see outside antennas, vcrs or tvs out side for junk because of all the restrictions put on recording something to watch later on.
Posted By A. Werdein, Rochester, NY : 2:46 PM  

yes, Tivo is no different than the VHS recorder or Cassette Tape Recorder was. Except it just uses a hard drive instead of $3 blank tapes.
Posted By Joe Millionaire, Beverely Hills FL : 3:11 PM  

TIVO was on the cutting edge of the DVR revolution, unfortunally, in recent years they have lost touch with thier core market. With all of the problems they having already, this should signal thier end. Its too bad really, I used to like thier service.
Posted By Stephen Heckerson, Pensacola, Florida : 4:22 PM  

users will find a way
Posted By d. sanders bowling green ky : 8:36 AM  

They should have thought about their customers first. TIVO has some financial pressures that certainly have pressured them to loose their their souls; personally, as a customer I will soon be gone.
Posted By Fernando Torres, Sarasota, FL : 10:12 PM  

This suggests that any one with a modicum of tech savvy will have a greater incentive to build his own alternative TiVo - for instance, by installing a TV tuner in an existing PC. Bad move, TiVo.
Posted By John, Beverly Hills, CA : 7:00 PM  

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