NBC says jump!
May 19th 2008
News.com reports that Microsoft has acknowledged that its Windows Media Centers blocks users from recording TV shows at the request of a broadcaster.
"Microsoft included technologies in Windows based on rules set forth by the (Federal Communications Commission)," says Microsoft spokeswoman. "As part of these regulations, Windows Media Center fully adheres to the flags used by broadcasters and content owners to determine how their content is distributed and consumed."
The software company was responding to questions about why some users of Windows Vista Media Center were prevented from recording NBC Universal TV shows, American Gladiator and Medium on Monday night.
CenterStage--Media center for the Mac
"Microsoft has put the requirements of broadcasters above what consumers want," said Danny O'Brien, Electronic Frontier Foundation. "They've imposed restrictions way beyond what the law requires. Customers need to know who Microsoft is listening to and how that affects their equipment. Right now, the only way customers know what Microsoft has agreed to is when the technology they've bought suddenly stops working. Microsoft needs to come clean and tell its customers what deals it has made."
What rules?
The "rules," to which the spokeswoman is referring to are those proposed by the FCC and blocked by the federal courts, which would require software and hardware makers to honor "broadcast flags." The flags are code that broadcasters can insert into the data stream of TV shows that typically require restrictions on the recording of the shows.
Recently, Microsoft has been criticized for agreeing to help NBC implement anti-piracy filters in its media-center software and Zune media players.
Editor's note: This is simply unbelievable.
Both NBC and Microsoft should be boycotted now...
What's your take?
