Do consumers have the right to record broadcasted video? The US Supreme Court seemed to cement this right when they legalized the VCR. But media companies use each technology modernization as an opportunity to challenge this basic consumer right.
RecordTV, an innovative company in Singapore, offers an internet DVR for residents to record HD broadcast channels via a web browser. Media companies sued. The Judge found that the recording was consumer-directed but that playback was somehow a 'public' infringement — a logically inconsistent ruling that effectively outlaws the service.
The parallels with Cablevision are striking. The lower court in that case also ruled against the consumer recording service, but was eventually reversed on appeal. I hope the RecordTV appeal achieves the same result, and that the right for consumers to record media remains intact even half way around the world.
--MR
