HBO wants you to stop recording

I just purged a LOT of Season Passes from my Tivo. Shows like all the CSIs and Law&Orders that had piled up episodes throughout the season - I just don't watch them anymore. If I could not use this content as I saw fit, I would further cut down on my TV viewing, reduce my cable bill to the absolute minimum, and maybe even switch to buying the few remaining shows online.

Go ahead. Give me a reason to cut back on another bad habit. Become the next $8/pack of cigarettes, and see if quitting TV will be as easy as quitting smoking was.

"HBO isn't just setting its site on DVR users"

Uh you guys need an editor. It should be "setting its sights."

This is why I built a freevo. Turned an old computer into a dvr power house, with just a tv-tuner card and free pvr software. Records great, and even has a utility to erase commercials. Syncs up to zap2it to get the listings. It's way worth it.

Call it the tip of the iceberg or the top of the slippery slope. This is all heading to a place where you will no longer be in control of your devices. Tivo has already demonstrated the ability to time limit recordings, or disable them altogether. Not everything about the move to digital television is all peachy high resolution goodness. God bless the analog hole.

I agree with Rodney. While it could lead to further limitations on other content, right now all the want to do is stop people from recording on-demand content. But if Tivo or anyone tries to limit how long you have to watch a program you recorded they will never hear the end of that.

The point of an on-demand service is to allow subscribers to have access to content on their own schedule. So what is the legitimate purpose of DVR-ing on-demand content? It is already available "on demand." This differs from recording a scheduled episode of a show, which is being aired when you are unable to watch for whatever reason, so that you can watch at a more convenient time.

Treat your audience well, and they'll treat you well.
Threaten to limit your audience's DVR usage, and your audience will limit your network. It's that simple.

(BTW - I don't even HAVE HBO, I've never seen a single program from it. Nor do I have a DVR, TiVo, ecetera... I'm still recording with a VCR!)

So let me see if I got this right. Currently HBO doesn't mind, technically, if you record one of their original programs when it airs regularly on HBO, HBO2, HBO Signature, etc. You can put that on your DVR no problem. It's when you record it off of their in-demand PPV service that they get upset. Ok, how long before recording... say the Sopranos on regular HBO during a Sunday premiere, as scheduled, is something they want to block?

Sorry, my keyboard has a broken key and that throws all my typing off.

Be careful of bit torrenting any HBO shows--I once got a nasty letter from then via my internet company (also my caqble company) sayting they knew I'd downloaded it and that they would take legal action next time.