Does Microsofts Media Center Let TV Producers Block Shows From Being Recorded?
And here we go again with rumors about questionable DRM tactics involving Microsoft and NBC Universal. Just days after a (later denied, after first being confirmed) report that Microsoft was going to put a “copyright cop” into Zune devices, users of Microsoft’s Vista Media Center were upset to find that they were unable to record certain NBC Universal television shows earlier this week. Instead, they received error messages reading: “Restrictions set by the broadcaster and/or originator prohibit recording of this program.” That would suggest, at the very least, that Microsoft’s Media Center does allow content broadcasters to block shows from being recorded — even if it turns out that they didn’t block these particular shows on purpose. My guess is that this was an accident in this case, because it would be quite surprising to find out that NBC Universal and Microsoft would do this officially without any kind of announcement. However, given that other DVR systems out there do not have
Related Questions
- Can I play back copy-protected recorded TV files on the same Media Center PC by using Windows Media Player 10 or other applications that work with DirectShow?
- Does Microsofts Media Center Let TV Producers Block Shows From Being Recorded?
- Does Vista Media Center Support Closed Captioning In Recorded Tv?
