Cablevision Testing Remote DVR

According to a story on Digg, Cablevision is testing a remote DVR for its customers.In a move that could ignite a major debate about consumer "fair use" of TV programming, Cablevision Systems will unveil plans to test a service that gives cable subscribers the ability to record and time-shift shows using existing digital set-top boxes.

Although it works just like TiVo and other digital video recorders (DVRs) — consumers choose in advance which shows to capture and can fast-forward through ads — the recording itself will be stored at the cable system, not on a hard drive in the consumer's home.

The technology for what Cablevision calls its "remote storage digital video recorder" (RS-DVR) "is here today, and in Cablevision's case, we can use it to put DVR functionality in more than 2 million digital cable homes instantaneously, without ever rolling a truck or swapping out a set-top box," COO Tom Rutledge says in a statement.The discussion at Digg is rather interesting, with some people counting down to a lawsuit from the networks, (an assertion made in the article) and others pointing out that the networks may embrace this sort of technology as a possible compromise that allows viewers to timeshift their programming without skipping past commercials, should companies like Cablevision limit the RS-DVR's functionality. In either case, DVRs are clearly here to stay, and it will be interesting to watch this unfold: will the networks learn from the RIAA and MPAA, and find ways to embrace this technology so many of their customers obviously love? Or will they stay in their glass towers and throw rocks at automobiles while they clutch their buggy whips with white-knuckled terror?

On a personal note, I'm that one guy who doesn't have a DVR (TiVo, ReplayTV, etc.), because whenever I think about buying one, I read about how the DVR makers have just taken away some functionality you paid for when you bought it, or the stupid TV producers make a deal with the DVR company to force you to watch the show you recorded within an arbitrary period of time which they set. I've looked at MythTV, remembered how much I hated compiling my own Linux Kernel a couple of years ago, and safely gone back to my DVDs and DirecTV.

But DVRs are certainly here to stay, and the latest TiVo offering is really tempting, so if you want to say you know of that one guy who doesn't have a DVR, you may have to go looking for someone new pretty soon.

web address: http://suicidegirls.com/news/geek/14870/