[mythtv-users] MS media center

[Christopher Meredith]

On Fri, Feb 26, 2010 at 8:51 PM, Michael T. Dean
<mtdean at thirdcontact.com> wrote:
> On 02/26/2010 09:32 PM, jedi wrote:
>>
>> On Fri, Feb 26, 2010 at 05:19:45PM -0800, Chris Petersen wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Christopher Meredith wrote:
>>>
>>
>> [deletia]
>>
>>>
>>> I won't get into anything specific about mc2xml, but I can assure
>>> you that MS and TMS don't think too kindly about unauthorized users
>>> accessing the system.  Some of us at SD don't like it either because
>>> it propagates the sentiment that people in open source community
>>> have no respect for intellectual property.  There is an inexpensive
>>>
>>
>>     I was under the impression that this fellow already has standing
>> to use the data in question. He has it because he "owns" a copy of a
>> product that includes access to that data as a part of a bundle.
>>
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-media-center/privacy-windows7-terms-of-service.aspx
> -----
> Windows Media Center electronic programming guide terms of service
> ...
> The Microsoft software product identified above, which includes computer
> software and may include associated media, printed materials, "online" or
> electronic documentation, and Internet-based services (the "Product")...
> ...
> Use of the Electronic Programming Guide Service. The EPG may only be
> accessed with an authorized personal computer using the Product.
> -----
>
> and these go way back--here's for older versions:
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/evaluation/privacy/default.mspx

Yes. All are agreed that it violates the TOS. The point is, so what?
I'm not a party to it so what does it matter?

>>     However, I agree that he should just buy the real thing direct for
>> himself because it's not terribly expensive to begin with.
>>
>
> Yeah, plus it helps support the community, and it's definitely
> legal/licensed/... for use with MythTV.  And--for those of us who care about
> that kind of thing--it shows respect for the great deal of time, effort, and
> expense that TMS goes through to compile all this data without which MythTV
> is useless.

It's not my intention to quibble unnecessarily, but MythTV is
perfectly usable without the copyrightable portions (descriptions). I
really don't understand the resistance that always seems to accompany
attempts to get simple listings without paying a monthly fee. That's
the way things used to be and when SD came out, we were assured that
it wasn't a profit-making venture. If this is true, how does it
"support the community"?