JessZahn:

Yes, I do know. :-)

We'll release the change for both XP and Vista.

i'm glad to hear that XP isn't completely abandoned yet

it's nice to have a voice for our issues

Silvercloak:

Hallelujah!  So is it going to be released as an automatic update?

I am unsure about that, actually - that's not within my team's power to decide. My guess is that initially it will be on the download center, because that is within our control and schedule, and then we'll work with the Windows Update/Microsoft Update team to get it on WU/MU. You know Microsoft releases stuff at certain intervals on WU/MU, so it's not our timing. I'm also not sure if it will be automatic (required) or recommended. But you know I'll tell you the minute it's live on the download center.

Unbelievable, Microsoft is listening.
It sounds too good to be true and could actually shatter all my beliefs.
So I stay suspicious until I have this fix and it actually works.
Is there any link available already?

No, not yet. But I ate lunch today with the developer who is working on this and told him how much I love him, too. In a totally platonic way, in case my husband is reading. :-)

I also have this same problem. I cant record any episodes from the simpson.

The info does not show that it is protected when i look at the detail of the show in the guide. However i am not able to record a single of these. Furthermore Those are replays.. i really dont understand.

I am in Canada, with videotron with numeric television, using Hauppauge PVR150 (media center) with Vista Premium.

Does the problem is  :

 1. Canada

2, Videotron

3. Hauppauge

4. Vista

?

 

 

it's a combination of Videotron and Vista

I too am in Canada on Shaw Network. I have sent an email to Support, they claim it's not their problem and originates with the feed from the network. (In this case it's EA2, a movie channel that, from what I can tell does not run commercials, and liberally snips out movie footage to accomodate a schedule.) However, it's not too much of a bother right now because, in general, I don't care for the programming selection. If it gets to be too crazy, I'll switch back to Snapstream, which ignores this "flag" and records in MPEG-2. I'm just glad Microsoft is going to provide a patch.

Hi Jessica,
Just wondering now: What exactly will this fix be? Are you just going to fix the issue that Media Center sometimes refuses to record at all or will the DRMS-A signal be ignored completely for Canadian users?

I have read almost all this thread.. it tooks me almost a night.. wow

I hope someone do something for us poor canadian... What is bad, is that the timing is bad, more and more people are looking for solution like Media Center and with Vista having this feature integrated the opportunity for Microsoft is more than interesting.  People want a way to arrange their tv listening.   But what do they see when they want to record even a simple show like "the Simpson" ? No you cant :)  I hope all this mess is not just for those DRM again.  Hollywood, please adapt tu us.. dont make us adapt to you.   Anyway i dont even agree with the Never copy flag. We should be able to record it anyway and listen to it later (pvr or not). It could be deactivated later depending on the channels, like a weeks later or something like that (never copy only).

that is just my two cents.

magicBC:

I too am in Canada on Shaw Network. I have sent an email to Support, they claim it's not their problem and originates with the feed from the network

shaw is so full of *** ;)

if it was the content provider, everyone in canada would see the exact same issues, and that's definitely not the case

Lemumbo:

Hi Jessica,
Just wondering now: What exactly will this fix be? Are you just going to fix the issue that Media Center sometimes refuses to record at all or will the DRMS-A signal be ignored completely for Canadian users?

We're going to change what Media Center's behavior is when it sees the "Copy Never" flag, and it will be for all CGMS-A, not just CGMS-A in Canada. We are not turning CGMS-A support off entirely, but you should be able to timeshift and record the content you believe you should be able to record once this change is released. And obviously you'll be able to tell me if that's not the case. :-)

wow. 

(Calgary Shaw Customer, XP MCE)

It gets sillier by the day (hurry up Microsoft with that fix).....my kids enjoy Viva Pinata so I set up the MCE to record the show each morning and this worked fine for a month or so.  Note, these are season 1 episodes off of YTV.  Anyway, last week, lo and behold recording starts aborting (big surprise huh!).  The "hilarious" part of it is that the recording aborts everyday at the same point in the middle of the same ad break, just as 1 ad is finishing.  So its not even the show that is carrying the flag but some stupid ad that I couldn't care less about in the first place.  I'm glad whoever is responsible is being so diligent about protecting their advertising.

I sent a complaint to the CRTC before stumbling across this thread.  Here's a copy/paste of their response.  I boldfaced the one particular sentence.  Anyway, the CRTC showed enough due diligence to at least follow up on it, which is appreciated.  Maybe Shaw will get the hint.

Having said all that, something interesting happend to me regarding this whole affair.  A few days back, my set-top box was obviously updated--most settings returned to their defaults (time display, screensaver, etc.), which ticked me off.  Anyway, immediately therafter I couldn't record from MovieCentral, hence this whole discovery process.  In frustration, I eventually yanked the plug from my DCT6200 and did a cold reset.  Now...I haven't had another incident of a blocked recording since, and it's been 3 days.  Could the STB have been fubar'ed and randomly generating flags, or is it more nefarious than that...perhaps an update component Shaw didn't intend to release/enable, and immediately "fixed"...

------------

Thank you for taking the time to contact the CRTC.

Your concerns - while much appreciated - do not appear to raise any regulatory issues which the CRTC might further pursue on your behalf.

We do not now, nor have we ever, regulated the technology by which a consumer receives television signals. As a consequence, a TV service provider, such as Shaw Cable, may insist that its subscribers use particular equipment in order to access Shaw services. This is a legitimate requirement which does not involve the CRTC in any manner.

That being said, we did make an inquiry of Shaw, due to many similar complaints. Shaw indicates that it does not alter any of "the flags" present in the programming it distributes. Quoting from the Shaw response: "Any copy protection flag that is in the content has been placed there by the rights holders, or by the programming service in accordance with their contractual arrangements with the rights holders."

I'm sorry we are not able to assist you in this regard.

------------------

 

 

JessZahn wrote the following post at 10-26-2007 4:00 PM::

Just had a conversation with the developer working on this not 10 minutes ago. It's going to happen.

Had any further conversations?   Was just wondering if this fix was still going to happen soon...