[free-sklyarov] Movie studios and TV networks force SonicBlue to spy on their customers

[Richard M. Smith]

Hi,

The copyright battle between content companies and technology companies
hit a new all-time low yesterday in Los Angeles. According to an article
in the San Jose Mercury News, a federal judge in Los Angeles, at the
request of major movie studios and TV networks, is compelling SonicBlue
to spy on the viewing habits of individual ReplayTV customers.
SonicBlue doesn't have this type of tracking software today, but was
given 60 days by the court to create it and install it on customer
ReplayTV boxes using the auto-update feature of the boxes.

This move by the court and content companies is exactly the problem I
warned about on March 1, 2002 in a piece I did on Senator Hollings's
proposed CBDTPA bill.  This piece can be found here at my Web site:

    Anti-piracy technology means more surveillance, less privacy
    http://www.computerbytesman.com/copyprotect/hollings.htm 

I hope that everyone who is concerned about the ever expanding misuse of
copyright law willing speak out on the dangerous precedent being set
here by this court ruling.  Hopefully Soniclue will be able to
overturned the ruling on appeal.

Thanks,
Richard M. Smith
http://www.ComputerBytesMan.com

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SonicBlue ordered to track ReplayTV users' viewing choices
By Dawn C. Chmielewski
Mercury News

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/3186191.htm

A federal magistrate in Los Angeles has ordered SonicBlue to spy on
thousands of digital video recorder users -- monitoring every show they
record, every commercial they skip and every program they send
electronically to a friend.

Central District Court Magistrate Charles F. Eick told SonicBlue to
gather ``all available information'' about how consumers use the Santa
Clara company's latest generation ReplayTV 4000 video recorders, and
turn the information over to the film studios and television networks
suing it for contributing to copyright infringement.

....