http://slashdot.org/articles/05/01/30/1 ... ml?tid=129

is the link to the Slashdot article which contains a link to the NY Times article. Cecil is quoted on the third page of the article. Pretty darn awesome! Too bad that the article about MythTV and KnoppMyth is lumped together with the angst about TV show file sharing.

Sigh... After reading the article I have mixed feelings about it. First off, I don't like the title of it. I am not a crook. When Mr. Markoff contacted me about the article, he said it was about the MythTV community. While, I'm not an English major, I don't think this article represents the community. Sigh...

I agree that the article mixes together independent issues to make them appear as if they are related. So it unfortunately tars legitimate technologies (MythTV/KnoppMyth, BitTorrent, broadcast-flag-free HDTV hardware) with questionable and/or illegal uses of those technologies (sharing TV shows).

However, I think that you and Isaac in no way come off in the article as if you are condoning the sharing of TV shows (and your stances are always made perfectly clear here and in the mythtv-user mailing list). So that's a positive.

I'd like to know the author's background. It really sounds like they are trying to gray the line between illegal show swapping and DVR/PC recording. As far as just recording shows, there is no difference between using myth or a DVR and using a VCR. I think the author is trying to hint that DVR is just like illegal video swapping without coming out and saying it.
My initial thoughts are that a Tivo like company is losing business from people (not just mythtv, but everyone that uses a PC to record shows) and thought to hire a journalist and compare PC recorded videos to illegal file swappers.
Ok-Ok I know all journalists are credible and not even the Bush campaign could pay some of them off to write an article in thier favor...(or could they...???) I kinda agree with Cecil "Steal this show" is not an appropriate title for an article the "supposedly" just discusses mythtv and DVR. You can more than tell where they were going with this. But I dont think it even hinted about any wrong-doing by Cecil or Isaac. But they did try to lump DVR in with illegal file swapping without coming out and saying it.
Just my 2 cents.

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yeah I saw that article, and didn't even know there was a mention of knoppmyth, because I stopped reading about halfway down the first page, because I just thought they were trying to say were all pirates.

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Xsecrets

Come on guys, I thought the article was pretty good. And you have to admit that he has a point: both Bit Torrent and homemade PVRs make it very easy to distribute content, illegally or not. In fact, it's this combination that is having the whole industry upside down (just like it happened in the music industry: MP3 format & file sharing)

As far as the author, John Markoff, well, do some research. He's pretty famous, and has reported from Silicon Valley on all sorts of things. And he does what journalists do: sell copy (hence the catchy title)...

Anyway, I guess this means we'll be seeing a flurry of newbie activity in the next few days/weeks...

I'm barely old enough to get the reference to the article's title, but it appears as if you young whipper-snappers are taking it the wrong way There was a book named "Steal This Book" from the 60s or 70s which was all about not putting up with the way things are if you don't like it. Here's the blurb on the book and its author from Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... 7?v=glance

"A driving force behind the social revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, Hoffman inspired a generation to challenge the status quo. Meant as a practical guide for the aspiring hippie, Steal This Book captures Hoffman’s puckish tone and became a cult classic with over 200,000 copies sold. Outrageously illustrated by R. Crumb, it nevertheless conveys a serious message to all would-be revolutionaries: You don’t have to take it anymore."

Put in that context, you can see that the title was meant to be a reference to the above attitude, while containing the double meaning that the other side of that viewpoint really does think anything even as simple as a VCR is stealing, even though the laws have stated otherwise. If you re-read the article with this in mind, you may find that the community is shown positively.

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Perhaps I can see it... But I don't think most would get this obscure reference (I certainly didn't). Today when most folks hear about P2P, they think about Napster. They think about how the record companies are "losing money" and suing teenagers. They think about how the MPAA is going after "pirates". Perpares Mr. Markoff knew the readers of the Times would understand, I having never read the Times certainly didn't. If the "television industry" ever started going after folks, I certainly don't think the lawyers would care about getting it.

A petition has been started to send to the editor of the Times.

My email to John:

John,

>
> When you contacted me about the article you were writing about
> MythTV, you stated that it was about the community. After reading the
> article, it made it sound like the community was a pack of thieves.
> This has cause a great stir in the community. Many, myself included
> feel the article protraits us in a bad light. Having been a member of
> the community for well over a year, I can say without reservation that
> this isn't the spirit of the community. The development community
> around MythTV works on it because we feel there is a better way. The
> program "Videora" isn't a MythTV module, it doesn't even run on Linux.
> Prior to reading your article, I had not even hear of Videora. While
> the past cannot be undone, I feel the least you can do is personally
> apology to the community.
>
> Regards,
>
> Cecil Watson


His response:


Hi Cecil,

Although I don't specifically remember saying it was about community, I
totally agree with you. I was tremendously upset with the title and the top
of the story, which is not what I had reported. It represents the danger of
working with another reporter who has a very different view of the world. My
original charter had been to find out how hacking (in the good sense) was
changing TV. That is what I reported. That is not what appeared in the
article. The problem was complicated by the fact that I was traveling to Europe
during the time the piece was written and edited. It was largely a fait
accompli by the time I had arrived and gotten over jet lag.
That said, that is not an excuse. I was totally shocked by the headline.
I did write that Isaac was a "rebel," but once again I didn't mean it in the
thief sense of the word. And I attempted to correct some of the material
about not needing set top boxes after that, but was ignored.
Anyway, if you go back and look at my stuff over the years, although
I've been attacked by the Kevin Mitnick crowd, I think you'll see that I
have been very supportive of the real hacker community.
I understand that the damage has been done, so please apologize to the
community on my behalf. I will try to rectify it in the future.

Best,

John Markoff

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