Cable Channels Panic Over iPad Streaming App 346
jfruhlinger writes "Time Warner Cable this month released an iPad app that would allow its subscribers to stream (some of) the channels they already pay for to their iPad, so long as they're connected to home Internet service provided by Time Warner Cable. The app probably seems like a baby step to most Slashdotters, and was extremely popular among subscribers — but it's thrown the owners of those channels into a panic, and they're threatening lawsuits. Time Warner says the contracts they've signed with the channels allow broadcast to any device in the home — 'I don't know what a TV is anymore,' says one company exec — but the channel owners fear that this will disrupt current and future revenue streams and that they need to stop it now. 'If we allow this without litigation, everyone will do it tomorrow,' says an anonymous source. 'If we litigate, we have a chance to win.'"
Re:'If we litigate, we have a chance to win.' (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Would RIAA v Diamond cover this? (Score:2, Informative)
How SCOTUS decided that:
If I buy Time Warner Cable, and have Time Warner Internet, and get shows from Time Warner and this app requires the above, wouldn't displaying the stream on an iPad instead of a television simply be space-shifting the stream.
Probably, but that didn't (and still doesn't) stop these copyright trolls from trying to re-litigate this crap over and over and over again. See also:
- trying to make the VCR illegal: Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios [wikipedia.org]
- trying to make home audio recording equipment illegal: Audio Home Recording Act [wikipedia.org] (they got a royalty on every DAT blank out of that, even if you were using it to record YOUR OWN BAND)
- trying to make PLAYER PIANOS illegal: White-Smith Music Publishing Company v. Apollo Company [wikipedia.org]
Note that in many of the above cases, the industry then bought some legislation that gave them moneez in spite of court rulings.
Re:they're right (Score:2, Informative)
Completely off topic, but... Which reality show nowadays does not have writers? Seriously, the "confessional" sessions they do with these reality show "contestants" (which are paid something to be on the show whether they win or not) are purely scripted. They ask leading questions to get the answers they want out of them, and then don't air the questions being asked. For example:
Producer/Writer: "What would you say to Contestant X if she took your hairspray, phrase it like you were talking to her."
Contestant Y: "You better watch out [bleep], cause I'm coming for you!"
How is that not completely scripted? It happens on every so-called reality show.