The Effort to Outlaw TiVO

The cable industry is developing their own replay system, which they plan on renting to you.

Their only problem is that, as we know, the technology is readily available on the free market.

They have therefore introduced pilot legislation in Tennesssee which gives them specific rights to define for themselves the type of equipment which can be attached to a cable box:

Hobbsonline has been following the effort:

The bill would make it a criminal offense to use such blatantly illicit devices as the “black box” to view cable programming without paying for it. But the broad language would also give cable companies the power to effectively declare any future computer gadgets illegal.

Rep. Rob Briley (D-Nashville), who is sponsoring the bill in the House, told NashvillePost.com that is intentional. The Telecom Theft Act of 1996 lists specific devices that are illegal if used in certain ways. That, says Briley, gives a potential cable thieves a roadmap to get around the law.

My comment: Unfortunately, the broad language of the new legislation would give the cable company unchecked power to use civil and criminal proceedings against customers who used the cable signal they have paid for in ways not expressly authorized by the cable company.

And possession of an unauthorized device, under the legislation, creates the inference of intent to defraud the cable company. Hence, the cable industry - which is developing its own digital video recorder - could declare the TiVo digital video recorder “unauthorized,” and use the threat of civil litigation and criminal prosecution to encourage customers to rent the cable company’s DVR instead.

Likewise, the cable company could declare “Wi-Fi” Internet devices unauthorized, barring customers from using the inexpensive devices to share their cable broadband Internet access with more than one PC in the home.

An attorney quoted in the article says the legislation “allows cable service providers to define what’s going to be unlawful,” and that amendments offered by cable industry lobbyists don’t really fix the legislation’s basic flaws.

This is their test case. Cable interests nationally are quietly funding this effort. Just another service from your freindly neighborhood cable company.