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New bill will make all VCRs and TVs illegal in 2006

3
FlukePerson was signed in when posted
09-21-2002
04:50 AM ET (US)
 In the UK, the set top boxes used for digital satellite and digital cable already contain the facility for the broadcaster to turn on or off Macrovision encoding of the composite analogue output signal, preventing recording with standard VCRs. This is used on all pay-per-view movies and I think other pay-per-view events too.

At one time one of the Asian channels (Sony Entertainment Television Asia?) turned it on for all their broadcasts but had such opposition from viewers no longer able to record their favourite shows that they were forced to turn it off.
2
Chris SmithPerson was signed in when posted
09-20-2002
04:28 PM ET (US)
 Things to think about...

* Now that everyone has CD players, turntables are expensive, not cheap.

* So, if my VCR gets stolen the day after this goes into effect, I will have to replace my TV, too? Would the insurance cover this? (Not...)

* Does this mean that warranties don't get honoured as people dig out their old equipment and get it serviced? Or will *fixing* an analog device also be illegal?

* Will importing such devices (for personal use) be illegal? Japan, Canada, and (I think) Mexico also use NTSC as a standard, although Japan has different broadcast channel specs. (This reminds of the bizarre - but true - stories of importing Canadian toilets because the law-abiding American toilets don't work...).
1
gorgarPerson was signed in when posted
09-20-2002
03:35 PM ET (US)
 Because everybody know that this is what the people want.
I can already imagine the "hot deals" on TV's and VCR's that you'll be seeing as this approaches.
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