A Federal judge recently issued an injunction barring SIMA products from selling a product because of conflicts with Macrovision.  The court case is still underway, but it certainly will not bode well for anyone that believes in digital rights, read article on arstechnica



See here to learn more about our position on digital rights.  There's a lot more at stake here than just copying DVDs.  This is genuinely a battle for control of the devices and conduits that we use to get information.  The more control Hollywood can exert, the fewer options you'll have to get your information.  Conversely, winning this battle means a free and open pipe to the world's living rooms.  Given the chance, a decade from now, a variety of devices and services will connect your living room to the content of your choosing: from home videos to independent film and news uncensored by anyone.  But it can only happen if citizens stand up and wrest control from big media now. 



Legislative battles are being waged as we speak that will allow big media to completely seal off the walled garden that they have worked so hard to create.  If they are successful, your children's set-top box will look the same as your current cable box.  Closed and under the tight control of the media giants.





What's the conection between macrovision and freedom of information in the living room?  Take the example of the Neuros OSD.  It's an open box connecting to the open internet, but a great deal of its value is that it can record content in a way that lets you view media from any source anywhere.  If forced to implement macrovision, it would likely cut off many of the sources of content from our device, which would dramatically reduce the value of that device.  To get those content sources back, we'd be forced to negotiate with the media providers.  Guess what the deal would be?  Close your box and we'll give you our media.  Cut off access to the open internet, don't allow copying to cards, implement various DRM schemes, and next thing you know, our box isn't open any more.  Why do you think TiVo3 no longer supports TiVo2go?



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