on a note of discussing "stolen" (copyrighted) material, i am curious does recorded television broadcast count as stolen or copyrighted digital material? we all know that .mp3 files are digital recordings of music that is only avalable in retail at a store. as are files that come from copied DVD videos. but broadcast television is something that is recorded off TV that anyone can see. another difference is the quality -- .mp3 and divx files are direct digital rips of the origional copy. recorded television shows are recorded from an analog source (cable or antenna) and then usually compressed to a much lesser quality than the origional broadcast

does anyone know what the official DMCA ruling on this is? i personally have recorded several tv shows from network and cable TV for my own enjoyment (keen eddie, lucky) and i wonder if that is breaking any laws?

just curious. i thought about this after reading these new posting rules.

It is illegal because it is considered public distrabution or public viewing which is a big no-no. Radio is the same way. Yes it is gay but it is the law.

Downloading them for your own enjoyment, or capturing them if you will, is perfectly legal. If you share them for others to see, that is when you cross into the illegal.

I think that if you try to sell them, then that is where you cross the line. Recording a TV show on your computer is the same thing as recording it on a VHS tape. If you show that tape to your buddy, are you breaking the law? Or even if you give it to your buddy, are you breaking the law? I don't think so. Are you? Recording them on your computer is the same thing. No harm done is how I see it. But if you try to sell it, that's a different story.

What about the 'Soccer Streams'?? What do you think about that, should I move the forum?

the only difference between me recording a television show on a VHS and me recording it on my computer is the ability to mass distribute. this is the same thing that makes recording a song off the radio on a cassette different than recording it on a computer. if you record it on a cassette, sure, you COULD give it to all your friends, but the time and effort required is a lot more than if you just download it off a computer.

the ironic thing is that a bunch of the tv shows i have could probably be considered public domain... like keen eddie? that show was lucky bravo decided to air the entire first season for a month last spring, which is more episodes than when it was origionally debuted on fox. i happened to be a fan, so i grabbed as many as i could. and i highly doubt any other station wlil be picking that one up for syndication anytime soon.

BUT i am hoping for FX to start airing more episodes of lucky. if you haven't seen it i j........nevermind. can't help you! (hah)