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Msg # 64-97 (H)lp,S)ince,L)ast,G)lobal,T)o,F)rom,M)ine, text, [Q]uit)? 64+

Msg #:  64                        CABLE Subboard
 From:  STEVEN TODD               Sent: 09-27-91 06:46
   To:  IRA HALFON                Rcvd: 09-27-91 11:42
   Re:  (R)PAY-PER-VIEW

IH>>>     One advatage of PPV is you can TAPE many movies that are
IH>>> otherwise "Copy protected" if you rent them!
IH>>  Havent you heard about the new copygard now being tested for PPV and
IH>> cable?

IH>     I seriously doubt that will EVER happen... I feel people have a
IH>right to tape any programming that they wish that they can receive...
IH>Whether it be normal TV like ABC,NBC,CBS or cable services like HBO,
IH>people SHOULD be able to record them...

IH>    And if that copygard does make it, EVERYONE will simply just get
IH>pirate devices to defeat it. Let's see the FBI arrest ALL the people in
IH>the USA!!!!! I think NOT!

-----------------

I heard a Nasty on Beyond 2000 the other day...
More <[Y],N,C,A>? c
                   

A large city, somewhere inside the United States, had itself a blast...

The local cable company knew that there were folks in the city with
pirated cable boxes and homebrewed connections... they didn't get MAD...
They got EVEN... watch...

First, they got a list of all subscribers, and replaced their cable
boxes with new boxes... and then, they threw a little switch...

...which sent a high-energy pulse throughout the cable system...

...the NEW boxes had circuitry and shielding to prevent damage from this
pulse... but the PIRATED boxes DIDN'T!

This cable company received many irate phone calls complaining about
damaged cable boxes soon after the destroying pulse was sent.  No
comment was made on how the company responded to these calls...

I wonder if the FBI / FCC / WHOever takes care of these things was given
a list of these "customers" who called... hrmmm...

By the way... the cable company is now sending these pulses every so
often (randomly) to prevent new pirates from having access for long.  Of
course, sooner or later, the pirates will get access to the modified,
shielded boxes, and the company will have to take a different
approach...

----------------------

I agree... if you pay to see a movie in your own home, why shouldn't you
be able to tape it?  The dang movie industry has made it so that you
have to pay $10.00 to see a movie (a small theatre in New Orleans, where
I used to go to school, was showing Paramount flicks at $0.50 per
ticket... and Paramount sent them a letter saying that they were about
to shut off the movie flow from Paramount to this theater...  no word on
how it ended...)... makes it so that we can't copy videotapes... and now
wants to make it so that we can't even tape off the cable?!

Look at it from THEIR point-of-view for a moment.  They own the
copyrights to these things.  If somebody tapes one of their movies or
copies a tape, it means less revenue for the company.  Now, it's not
enough to, like, SINK the company, but they get irked all the same.
They complain to the FBI, and the FBI goes a-hunting...  They hire
R & D people to create new ways of preventing piracy, spending massive
amounts of money on this effort...

...when they'd probably be just as well-off just not even worrying about
it, considering the cost of R & D these days.  They're going to get a
massive box-office revenue (assuming that their release is worth
watching)... and at least SOME money on videocassettes... more than
enough to pay for the movie and wages of the various personnel
involved... the advertising... and so on.

Why should they even bother?  They're GREEDY, that's why!

Take that tidbit about Paramount... trying to control the price at which
an independent theatre "sold" its movies...  I can understand FOX
theatres (a national chain) wanting to maintain fairly standard
prices... but how much revenue will Paramount lose when a locally-owned,
non-chain theatre shows its movies for cut-rate prices?  The theatre
pays the same for the right to show the movie that a higher-charging
theatre would... are there royalties or some-such involved here?

S. Todd
---
 * SLMR 2.0 * What is this key foõëñÄÏò

Msg #:  65                        CABLE Subboard
 From:  STEVEN TODD               Sent: 09-27-91 06:46
   To:  ALL                       Rcvd: 11-04-91 17:28
   Re:  VISTA COMMUNICATIONS

Vista Communications is the local cable here in Choctaw County, AL...

Is this a nationwide service, or are we folks in this one little area
the only ones fortunate enough to have it?

They have a GREAT selection of channels, compared to the other 2 systems
in the area, and service is rarely disrupted (the only things that shut
THIS system down are severe -- and I mean SEVERE -- thunderstorms and
fallen poles/trees that break the cable).  When it IS disrupted, the
technician for our area gets it fixed within 2 hours... and that's GOOD,
considering that at least part of that time is spent waiting for the
power company to clear fallen electric wires or for the storm to blow
over.  The cost?  About $22/month ($20/month for 1 linkage -- we have
two in this house).  CNN... HeadLine News... the Big 3 networks... TDC,
FOX, WGN-Chicago, TBS, TNT, TNN, ESPN, USA, QVC, A&E, PBS, NICK, MTV...
and a few other channels like BET, VISN (a religious channel), a
business channel... not bad for $22/month!

Later...
---
 * SLMR 2.0 * Happiness is connecting on the first try.

Msg #:  66                        CABLE Subboard
 From:  STEVEN TODD               Sent: 09-27-91 06:46
   To:  JACQUELINE MAYTON         Rcvd: 10-29-91 05:25
   Re:  (R)PAY-PER-VIEW

JM>IF it's used privately for MY use ONLY and I DON'T charge a fee for
JM>others to watch it, then I'm NOT breaking the copyright law.

Good point, here... ever notice the little ditty played during each
televised major-league baseball game?  "No reproduction of the televised
images or accounts within FOR REBROADCAST without the express written
consent of Major League Baseball..."

You can tape 'em, but you can't charge for 'em!

JM>What is MacroVision?!  Haven't heard of it.
JM>About Cable prices in general......I know quite a few people in my areai
JM>who complain about the cable prices rising every year.  It went from
JM>$11.00 one year to 14.95 the next, then a few months later, it changed
JM>to $16.00....Our cable service covers MOST of the county < about 15,000
JM>to 20,000 residents plus the hospitals, nursing homes, etc>

Vista just went up by $2/month... so they could expand their service
into new parts of the county...

people in JM>the area, but...figure in HBO, Max, Prism, Disney into that

What's PRISM?  Sounds INTERESTING (and, probably, NOT AVAILABLE
here!)...

S. Todd
---
 * SLMR 2.0 * Telephone Tag - The Sport of the Future...

Msg #:  68                        CABLE Subboard
 From:  MICHAEL MAY               Sent: 09-27-91 21:16
   To:  STEVEN TODD               Rcvd: 09-27-91 22:36
   Re:  (R)PAY-PER-VIEW

This just in...........


From TVRO Dealer Sep 1991

 Independent research indicates that an unprotected PPV service is
a pillaged service.  N.Y.-based Schulman, Ronca & Bucuvalas (SRB)
said 41% of all VCR owners have tried to copy pre-recorded videocaS<1Ýwwwwwww÷vIÚÎý‘¿z\éHV³•ó