[Discuss] Is MythTV dead?

[richb at pioneer.ci.net (Rich Braun)]

Dan Ritter noted:
> Hulu and Netflix put encryption in your way; Youtube has
> terms of service. DVD is solved, but Blu-Ray isn't, really.

Those are hurdles but in the end there is always more than one way to code or
negotiate around these problems.

As for legality of this, I'm pretty sure the law of the land remains Sony v.
Universal Studios, 1984 (downloaded content can be copied for personal use).

So long as a human eye can see the content, an ear can hear it, and a hand can
control it, there's a way to record, archive and time-shift it.  The simplest
thing to do in the face of obstructions is to use the vendor-supplied software
and put a wrapper around it.  The somewhat-better thing from a user's point of
view is to convince the vendor to embrace a remote-control or
application-management interface that enables their content to fit into this
broader framework; what's in it for them is more potential eyeballs, if the
interface becomes easy enough for newbies to use.

Then again I could just go work for Universal and take over the planet,
forcing everyone to use /my/ UI.  ;-)

My overall point is that these open-standard UI systems like MythTV *ARE* dead
unless a more aggressive posture is taken.

-rich