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hbgator

Fri 20 Jan, 2006


New TVMyPod service comes in gray (area)

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LOS ANGELES <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>(Hollywood Reporter)<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>-<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> A tiny Massachusetts company named TVMyPod is selling iPods that come with movies and TV programs already loaded on them,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> a practice that raises questions of legality as it addresses consumer demand for convenience and portability.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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Customers choose any content currently available on a DVD and which iPod they want.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> TVMyPod then puts the content on the player and ships the original DVDs along with the iPod restored to its original packaging.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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TVMyPod co-founder Vijay Raghavan said most people don't have the time or the technology to convert DVDs into the iPod's required format,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> which is what gave him and his business partner the idea to start the service.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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DVDs have copy protection on them,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> however,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> and under the terms of the <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> Digital Millennium Copyright Act it is illegal to bypass that technology.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> Raghavan said his company's process does not involve decryption.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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He added that moving the content onto the device is a one-way transfer,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> which since the purchaser gets both the original and the copy is legal under the fair use provisions of the U.S.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> Copyright Act.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>"It's kind of an obsolete law since Congress was not taking into consideration portability,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>"<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> Raghavan said.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>"These players are exploding on the market,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> but the legality of it can sometimes be in a gray area.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>"<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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TVMyPod is not charging for its services yet,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> so customers pay only the actual cost of the iPod and whatever the price is on Amazon for their chosen DVDs.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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Raghavan said TVMyPod will set prices when it rolls out its next offerings,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> which will include consumers sending in their own iPod and possibly a subscription service to keep the content refreshed.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>