rob was here.

For anyone who's up on the latest technology, you'll know that very recently Apple Computers have added video capability to their iPod music player and iTunes software. I really think that this, in concept, is a swell move and I commend them on their transition.

The new video iPod looks fantastic, and the idea of taking around your home-videos or downloaded tv-shows and music videos is really forward-moving. I was amazed by the concept that they have partnership with ABC which allows you to purchase their shows right off of iTunes and put them on your computer and iPod.

"Wow! This is great!" is what I thought at first, until i realized that I already downloaded my favourite ABC shows in high definition (HDTV) xVid MPG4 format soon after they aired on television.. What does this new apple format offer me that my current routine doesn't? Besides the fact that you have to pay 2 dollars per episode with Apple?

Until now, I've always thought that downloading a past-aired episode of a cable show was no different than recording it on your VCR, TiVo, or PVR. Essentially, it has already aired on my house through cable, and I've had ample means and opportunity to record it for my own viewing pleasure. I thought to myself, "Self, does the fact that I have to pay for these shows using iTunes mean that I should be paying for them when I download them from whereever else?? What about Fair Use??"

Fair Use (better known as Fair Dealing in Canada) is the legal mumbo-jumbo which outlines what you can and can't do in terms of copyright infringement. It was always my understanding that the reproduction of copyright material for one's personal use was legit under the policies of Fair Use, and this goes doubly for copyright material which you yourself have purchased. Copyright infringement that is not for one's own personal use (which includes outright distribution) or for one's personal gain is not covered under Fair Use, and thus is illegal.

Under these guidelines, I (and many of you) have done things like record songs off the radio as a lad or ladette, or taped off your favourite t.v. show with your VCR. Nobody can or could touch you for doing these things: it's Fair Use.

This brings new questions to mind. Is downloading a t.v. show off the internet different that recording it onto your tivo or with your VCR? It's a different methodology of obtaining your show, but in the end the results are the same. The only catch is the mechanism of internet transfer. With a method such as bittorrent, you are (perhaps unknowningly or unwillingly) distributing packets of data from your download to other downloaders. You are becoming a distributor. The issue gets deeper..

This then leads into the question of if it is legit to download a pre-aired t.v. show using a internet transfer protocol that doesn't support a cooperative distribution network? Again, the net result in terms of personal use of a single user is the same which ever way you look at it.

I'm not asking these questions with any kind of answer in mind to give you: I seriously don't know if downloading a T.V. show in Canada while you legitly pay for the cable station it airs on is an illegal activity or not.

I'm not blaming Apple for hurting the seemingly downward slide of fair use, but they certainly arn't helping with their DRM (Digital Restriction Management).. Essentially they are making it impossible to play the media on anything other than Apple hardware (iPods) or software (iTunes). Talk about a lock-in. That said, I will probably try it at somepoint if I miss an abc show (the only one I watch is LOST), just to do a fair comparison of quality/capability compared to the HDTV downloads that I usually try to obtain.

Hopefully, Apple's DRMs will continue to be cracked under projects such as hymn so you can use the hardware and software you want with your apple purchased media.