edward@ukecc.UUCP (Edward C. Bennett) (10/15/85)
I just saw an ad on CNN informing us (paraphrased) "it is illegal to receive cable TV programs on your TVRO if they are intended for sale". The man also said "it used to be legal to receive CNN with your dish but the laws have changed" and that "sattilite tramsmissions will probably soon be scrambled". For $25, CNN will sell you a subscription license to legalize yourself and they put your name on a list "to be first in line when decoders become available". How much truth is in what they say? How worried should we get? What the hell does TVRO stand for anyway? -- Edward C. Bennett UUCP: ihnp4!cbosgd!ukma!ukecc!edward /* A charter member of the Scooter bunch */ "Goodnight M.A."
guest@ccivax.UUCP (What's in a name ?) (10/22/85)
> I just saw an ad on CNN informing us (paraphrased) "it is illegal to > receive cable TV programs on your TVRO if they are intended for sale". ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ If you are running a hotel, bar, or "theater" of any type, or intend to "re-broadcast" any TV transmission, you could be in violation of copyright laws (Not FCC violations). If you just want to watch it at home, you are probably safe. The important thing is that you (the TVRO owner) can't "edit out the commercials" and then derive revenue. TVRO dealers may have a delemma. If the value of the TVRO is recieving "private" sattellite transmissions, they may want to play it safe with a "one shot" subscription fee. You would see it as a small increase in the retail price. > For $25, CNN will sell you a subscription license to legalize yourself > and they put your name on a list "to be first in line when decoders > become available". If that is $25 period, that is a reasonable price to pay. Even $25 per year is not unreasonable if you enjoy their programming. Theoretically, you are being given the opportunity to purchase "direct" a liscence your dealer should have paid for you. Depending on when the TVRO was purchased, you may or may not be obligated to pay. > How much truth is in what they say? How worried should we get? > Edward C. Bennett CNN (or other networks) can apply for permission to encrypt their signals, they may change encryption techniques as often as they wish, and on whatever terms they wish. You might be able to decode this months transmission, and recieve "garbage" the next time.
lauren@vortex.UUCP (Lauren Weinstein) (10/23/85)
The CNN TVRO subscription ad is being misquoted. They don't say it
is illegal to receive the services if they're going to be resold
by the receiver (such resale has pretty much always been illegal except
under license and isn't what they're talking about). What they DO
say is that the new cable law that Congress passed makes it illegal
to receive the (scrambled or unscrambled) satellite services without
paying appropriate fees WHEN THE SERVICE PROVIDER IS OFFERING THE END USER
THE ABILITY TO PAY FOR THAT SERVICE (that is, when the SERVICE PROVIDER
is offering the service for sale to individual TVRO owners).
In other words, you can legally receive (for free) unscrambled
general broadcast services if the service provider refused to
let you pay for the service ("We don't want to deal with individuals.")
Until recently, this was often the case. But as soon as they
say, "OK, we'll deal with you--pay us N dollars," you can no longer
legally receive the stuff for free. They have to (supposedly) also
meet certain requirements about the fairness of the fee they charge,
etc.
Don't blame me--I didn't write this law.
--Lauren--rp321@uiucuxa.CSO.UIUC.EDU (11/15/85)
/* Written 9:02 pm Oct 21, 1985 by guest@ccivax.UUCP in uiucuxa:net.dcom */ [...] > For $25, CNN will sell you a subscription license to legalize yourself > and they put your name on a list "to be first in line when decoders > become available". If that is $25 period, that is a reasonable price to pay. Even $25 per year is not unreasonable if you enjoy their programming. Theoretically, you are being given the opportunity to purchase "direct" a liscence your dealer should have paid for you. Depending on when the TVRO was purchased, you may or may not be obligated to pay. [...] /* End of text from uiucuxa:net.dcom */ Considering that CNN, ESPN, and many other cable networks already show commercials, I don't see why they should be milking home TVRO owners with subscription fees. Are they that greedy? Russell J. Price University of Illinois { ihnp4, pur-ee, convex }!uiucdcs!uiucuxa!rp321 rp321@uiucuxa.CSO.UIUC.EDU