[The News Bot]

Millions of television viewers are now using illegal file-sharing services to access TV programmes, research shows.
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[TheForge]

"Millions of television viewers are now using illegal file-sharing services to access TV programmes, research shows"

Should this not read:

"Millions of television viewers are now using file-sharing services to illegally access TV programmes, research shows"

File sharing technology is not Illegal by nature, it is just a way to transfer data.


Now lets question if recording TV shows broadcast on Terrestrial or Satellite TV is illegal?

I bet few people understand or even think of the legallities surrounding the recording of Terrestrial or Satellite TV shows.

People have been recording TV shows and Movies since the release of the VCR back in the 80s.

If recording TV shows or Movies in this way is Piracy then it could be argued that anyone who has ever used the following devices to record off the TV has a Peg leg and owns a parrot!

Any tape based Video Recorder
Any Optical Disc based video Recorder
Any HDD PVR/DVR stand alone device
Any Computer that can record from TV or Satellite
Any Satellite PVR
Any Cable PVR

Could this not mean that the makers of these devices are also party to Piracy?

These devices have no other purpose than to record and store TV shows and Movies broadcast over Terrestrial or Satellite TV!

While people generally know that copying a DVD or Bluray movies is piracy, I would suspect that few consider recording a TV show and thus sharing said recording is also Piracy!

I think the problem comes when people share said recording across international markets.

This is a lack of foresight on the part of Broadcasters, they are behind the times and lack any basic understading of the capabilities of todays Technologies.

If they are showing Series 5 of some show in the US and only Series 4 in the UK then people will find a way to keep up with the latest shows.

A simple way to solve these problems would be to broadcast the same series in all current markets the show is in at the same time or within a few days at the very least.

The same thing applies to Movies! If you release a Movie in the US and then wait 6 months to Release it in the UK, people will end up downloading it!

Every year, Christmas themed movies are released in the UK around March! and they then wonder why they dont make money here!

People are just not willing to wait anymore and now they have the means to remove that wait!

Just some of my views on the subject.

[David Mackenzie]

If they are showing Series 5 of some show in the US and only Series 4 in the UK then people will find a way to keep up with the latest shows.

A simple way to solve these problems would be to broadcast the same series in all current markets the show is in at the same time or within a few days at the very least.

The same thing applies to Movies! If you release a Movie in the US and then wait 6 months to Release it in the UK, people will end up downloading it!

Every year, Christmas themed movies are released in the UK around March! and they then wonder why they dont make money here!

People are just not willing to wait anymore and now they have the means to remove that wait!

What this man said ^.

This is a mess of their own making. When the choice is to watch a US recording now or to wait longer in order to see a possibly censored version appearing on UK TV, are they seriously surprised that people go for the superior, albeit illegal option?

Sometimes piracy is the only way of seeing shows at all in one country. And in others, it's the only way of seeing them in their entirety (at least until an intact DVD comes along).

The anime sharing web site CrunchyRoll.com provides users with legal downloads of subtitled Japanese animated shows the day after they air in Japan (complete and intact, no less).

[nokmond]

How is downloading an episode of top gear illegal? I've paid my tv license so technically i've helped pay for bloody program! This country