Negative Timeshifting
More again in the news recently about illegal file-sharing (isn’t there always?). This time, it’s US company MediaDefender and their tactics.
This got me thinking about the entire legality of file-sharing, and how this effects users in the UK, where laws are slightly different. Here in the UK, for instance, it’s actually illegal to rip your CD’s to MP3′s (but don’t worry – they’ve promised never to prosecute on this one!).
It seems to me, looking at the more popular file-sharing sites, that TV programs move around a lot more than films. This is more than likely due their abundance rather than any form of preference (although I could be wrong).
Here in the UK, I recall, “time-shifting” is a permitted technology. With the advent of the video cassette came legislation allowing the home user to “time-shift” broadcasted content – tape it and watch it later. Something similar in law likely exists in the States, I’m sure, to allow the likes of “TiVo”. Here, we’ve got Sky+, the modern-day equivalent to the video casette.
Again, by law, you’re also only supposed to watch it once (does this mean that Sky+ allows circumvention of the law? Another thought for another day…).
I’ve got a Sky TV subscription. I’ve also got an internet connection. Take any new show currently running Sky One. It’s probably also running in the US, but a couple of episodes ahead.
Would the law cope with me performing “negative time-shifting”?
Can I download it today, watch it tomorrow and delete it before it’s aired on UK TV, providing I will, at some point in the near future, have the opportunity and right to watch it “live”?