Well we now know why this fix was pulled and such a poor fix was put in place.  This is now a dead subject with the announcement of the "made in Canada" DMCA.

The govermenent is going to introduce legislation that will force all PVRs in Canada to not record anything flagged by the broadcaster.  They say nothing about what regulations are going to be put in place to determine what can be flagged though, so I will assume anything can be flagged.

This is now out of Microsoft's hands, so I would suggest calling your MP.

Tikker:

SageTV, Media Portal, MythTV, and a bunch of others will all do what MCE won't

SageTV also has extenders that are cheaper than the MCE ones, and have more functionality

Thank you Tikker for your reply, much appreciated sir!.

Braumin:

Well we now know why this fix was pulled and such a poor fix was put in place.  This is now a dead subject with the announcement of the "made in Canada" DMCA.

The govermenent is going to introduce legislation that will force all PVRs in Canada to not record anything flagged by the broadcaster.  They say nothing about what regulations are going to be put in place to determine what can be flagged though, so I will assume anything can be flagged.

This is now out of Microsoft's hands, so I would suggest calling your MP.

I don't think that's necessarily true.  Read the section I copy/pasted out of C-61.   It sure looks to me like  this bill states specifically MCE can record whatever you want, so you can watch it later.  (ephemeral = "short lived" ie time shifted ) Whether it has CGMS-A on it or not.   The last part about the rights owner "providing the means to make the recording in a timely manner" if you can't record it yourself, just reflects the idiotic theme of the rest of the bill.

I do NOT think Microsoft is off the hook yet on this - especially since this is just a load of crap bill that isn't passed yet.   And even if it did pass,  Media Center should STILL record the show for watching it later. No matter what "flag" is on it.  Don't you think?

I really don't care about keeping shows forever, or sticking em on an Ipod, or distributing them to the world   I want to record a stupid movie that's on at 3 AM to watch it later,  or record "The Care Bears Movie" for my kids to watch at an appropriate time.   Neither of which is allowed by MCE, in Canada, currently to do the ABUSE of the "Copy Never" flag in this country.



"41.17 Paragraph 41.1(1)(a) does not apply to a broadcasting undertaking that circumvents a technological measure for the sole purpose of making an ephemeral reproduction of a work, a performer’s performance fixed in a sound recording or a sound recording in accordance with section 30.9, unless the owner of the copyright in the work, the performer’s perform- ance fixed in a sound recording or the sound recording that is protected by the technological measure makes available the necessary means to enable the making of such a reproduction in a timely manner in light of the broadcasting undertaking’s business requirements."'

More: Industry Canada's statement:



"INDUSTRY-INDUSTRIE <Industrie-Industry@ic.gc.ca>:

The following provisions would ensure that Canadian consumers can
legally take advantage of these new technologies for private,
non-commercial use:

       A "recording of broadcast" exception would allow individuals to
       make a single copy of a television or radio program or a simulcast
       webstream to which they have legitimate access for listening and
       viewing at a more convenient time. This is often referred to as
       "time shifting."

we should start a pool on when this issue is fixed


I'm calling dibs on never, btw

anyone at MS care about Canada yet?

Well, the rep from the other thread said they were working on a partial fix that doesn't work with cable boxes that will somewhat help both US and Canadian users, but again, not sure when they'll release it.  Still as helpful as always, of course that was 2 weeks ago. 

I'd say that we're lucky there is a kb # assigned, so that means what, another 2, 4, 8 months until it is finalized and released.  Is there anyone that thinks it is acceptable to purposely introduce a flaw to a product and then not release a fix for a couple of years?

  

2 weeks ago?  much longer than that, and that fix was yanked as well

Yes, the first one was a couple of months ago, but there was a more recent reference regarding it in this thread.

http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/1/267655/ShowThread.aspx#267655

oh, you mean the "fix" that doesn't actually address the issue, and introduces even more broken stuff? (unpauses video when it goes to screen saver)

Specifically the one that he mentioned for xpmc that is in the works.  Although, if what is being planned by cable companies is true, the update will be made worthless in 7 months and we'll be right back to a pretty crappy experience, meaning a roll of the dice on if MC can record a show or not.

this doesn't get to fall off the front page until MS admits they don't care about Canada

Oh what the hell.  I didn't really care much about this problem since the only thing I heard that it affected was an episode of gladiators quite a while ago.  Well I decided to watch the new show The Middleman tonight, and got a broadcast flag error!  This better be a mistake cause this is rediculous.  I don't know why I even bother trying to record shows.  I'm left with a crappy sd copy of a show with commercials, or in this case, I can't even do that and so I'm left with two other choices.  Watch a horrible quality version on the stations website with frequent problems, or I could just download it "illegally" and get an HD version with no problems and no commercials.  Hrmmm, hard choice.

Agreed.  It was frustrating for me as well to see the recording fail. 
Luckily the old ReplayTV upstairs had no problem recording the show. 
But I was definitely annoyed, and left feedback on the ABC website.  Grr.  I am ineffectual man.  Hear me roar softly.

---

* Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 in an Intel DG965WH motherboard with built-in dolby digital live audio output via SPDIF
* evga geforce 7600gs graphics
* VBox Cat's Eye 150 ATSC tuner
* Theater 550 Pro analog tuner

Here we go again.

http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/07/01/abc-family-doesnt-want-you-to-watch-the-middleman/