WastedTimes

[hbgator]

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - A tiny Massachusetts company named TVMyPod is selling iPods that come with movies and TV programs already loaded on them, a practice that raises questions of legality as it addresses consumer demand for convenience and portability.



Customers choose any content currently available on a DVD and which iPod they want. TVMyPod then puts the content on the player and ships the original DVDs along with the iPod restored to its original packaging.

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, which is what gave him and his business partner the idea to start the service.

DVDs have copy protection on them, however, and under the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act it is illegal to bypass that technology. Raghavan said his company's process does not involve decryption.

He added that moving the content onto the device is a one-way transfer, which since the purchaser gets both the original and the copy is legal under the fair use provisions of the U.S. Copyright Act.

"It's kind of an obsolete law since Congress was not taking into consideration portability," Raghavan said. "These players are exploding on the market, but the legality of it can sometimes be in a gray area."

TVMyPod is not charging for its services yet, so customers pay only the actual cost of the iPod and whatever the price is on Amazon for their chosen DVDs.

Raghavan said TVMyPod will set prices when it rolls out its next offerings, which will include consumers sending in their own iPod and possibly a subscription service to keep the content refreshed.