Is ‘Transitional Fair Use’ The Wave Of The Future?

Posted on Tuesday, November 30, 2004 by MegaZone

When HBO’s “Six Feet Under” returns in 2005, it won’t just be the end of a long-running hit series. It may also be a turning point for TV viewers who are in the habit of recording shows to watch weeks or even months later.

Sources at two different cable companies have told AllYourTV.com that discussions have begun which will may lead to a restriction of use for fans of several popular television shows.

Originally spotted in PVRBlog

About MegaZone

MegaZone is the Editor of Gizmo Lovers and the chief contributor. He's been online since 1989 and active in several generations of 'social media' - mailing lists, USENet groups, web forums, and since 2003, blogging.    MegaZone has a presence on several social platforms: Google+ / Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / LiveJournal / Web.    You can also follow Gizmo Lovers on other sites: Blog / Google+ / Facebook / Twitter.
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  • innocentbastard

    Luckily I don’t watch Six-Feet under but if it does happen, I will be dropping HBO.

  • unteins

    Oh yeah this is a brilliant idea….because no one would want to watch shows more than 4 weeks old…..especially those shows that require continuity to enjoy like Survivor…

    I mean, its not like I didn’t just watch about 6 episodes of Survivor tonight in order to catch up. Or last night when I wacthed 5 episodes of The West Wind. Or the night before when I watched 8 episodes of Third Watch.

    There are no words to describe the stupidity of this. But that’s ok, let them restrict me from watching shows that I recorded, so then I just won’t bother to watch shows when I haven’t had time to catch up. That should do wonders for their ratings in the long run….wooooo go….

  • jsciv

    I have the entire previous season of 6FU on TiVo waiting until I have time to watch it. I’ve paid HBO, so they better leave me alone. That’s my opinion, anyway.

    Although, on the good side, I suppose that restrictions like that will only drive people further toward independantly owned DVR companies such as, oh……. TiVo, so that may not be such a bad thing after all… :)

  • kirylyn

    has anyone checked to see if the twit over at the RIAA who started the war with Napster got transferred over to the cable execs board??

    cause this sounds about in the same stupid vein.

    gee, we got napster shut down and our cd sales dropped. see it WAS the fault of all those no-good freeloaders who were ripping off our cds. we closed the way for them to listen to songs before buying the cd and they stopped buying the CDs!! woot!! yeah for us!!

    so if I use a dvr of any sort to record a show and I dare to timeshift it, I’ll be SoL because I wasn’t there to watch it as it aired???

    um, dudes, isn’t that what VCRs do??? for like the last twenty years??? (remembers when I went on vacation for a month and programmed all three VCRs to tape my shows in SLP mode)

    so how is TiVo or any DVR any more of a threat than someone watching a tape and fastforwarding thru the ads? granted programming a vcr takes a tiny bit more effort than programming a DVR (assuming one can fix the flashing 12:00)

    so yet another example of cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face??