TV Networks Say You're Breaking The Law When You Skip Commercials

Why don't they just sent the cops to come and arrest us? Seriously, just start this already and watch us take our freedoms back you spineless bureaucratic pussies.

Originally posted by NullVoid
Here are some tips to make your ads more enjoyable or take away your mind from the brute force spoon fed propaganda.

...
6.Play game with your kids/friends/whoever, betting what stupid commercial that will come up next
7.Guess whats on next channel, ads or movie or news etc etc
...

I went to a Superbowl Party where the betting pool squares were what type of commercial will be first, after the 2nd quarter, etc, instead of silly things like scores. Bet on beer - it's a likely winner.

I have to be honest, I do enjoy a well put together commercial. I would never buy what they are advertising, but I applaud the creativity and effort they put into it.



Side thought though: I seriously hate that Corona commercial. You know the one with the guy name Stan I think and he's just standing in one place and it goes

"Eat Dress Drink Bar Beer Sleep - DREAM - " With the ugly looking sheep.

Repeat x3

"STAN STAN"

That commercial makes me upset.

EDIT: And right when I finished typing this, another Corona Commercial came on. The time the guy's name is Mark. I hate them. Jesus...

Originally posted by Garfee
Why don't they just sent the cops to come and arrest us? Seriously, just start this already and watch us take our freedoms back you spineless bureaucratic pussies.

I like your passion. Had to give that one a star

We'll have ads like this soon.

Great, so anyone who wants to watch TV has to subject themselves to blatant subliminal manipulation. What is this world coming to? This is actually good, because maybe people will stop watching TV and instead read a book.

Wasn't there some type of anti-spam law passed years ago? Isn't that what commercials are, spam? From Wiki, Spam is the use of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately. Isn't this the same thing? A bunch of crap we don't want?

I'm glad that where I reside the commercials are maybe 15-30 second clips during shows and 90% of the time it's about other shows, not some crappy product. Most shows here end 10 minutes before the hour and that's when the bulk of them are shown (the same rule applies here as above). Good time to hit the toilet or grab a snack, I don't watch tv that much anyway.

Funny that electronic spam doesn't list the airwaves... Aren't your tv and radio electronic?

en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by Daedal


The issue is that Dish allows "automatic" commercial skipping. Which is different than fast forwarding.

Originally posted by Daedal
"The networks are accusing Dish of "inducing" copyright infringement. That's a legal theory first created in the record labels' case against peer-to-peer software maker Grokster. The problem for the networks is that a technology maker, service, or other middleman can't be held liable for inducing copyright infringement unless their customers are actually infringing. And that means the networks will have to convince a judge that people who record a TV show, and later decide to skip over the commercials during playback, are violating federal law."

Well I don't own one of these devices, but do know people who do, don't watch much television for that matter. Hopefully, the courts won't turn millions of American commercial-skippers into lawbreakers.

eff.org

Television networks are having a busy month trying to stamp out new TV-watching technology, including telling a court that skipping a commercial while watching a recorded show is illegal. Yesterday, Fox, NBC, and CBS all sued Dish Network over its digital video recorder with automatic commercial-skipping. The same networks, plus ABC, Univision, and PBS, are gearing up for a May 30 hearing in their cases against Aereo, a New York startup bringing local broadcast TV to the Internet. EFF and Public Knowledge filed an amicus brief supporting Aereo this week.

edit on 26-5-2012 by Daedal because: Edit

Oh for fu%$s sake.

Don't be surprised if they enforce this law pretty soon. Television stations are shi**ing bricks over this, because if nobody watches ads, nobody will pay to advertise anymore, and their precious dollars go down the toilet.

Originally posted by JiggyPotamus
Great, so anyone who wants to watch TV has to subject themselves to blatant subliminal manipulation. What is this world coming to? This is actually good, because maybe people will stop watching TV and instead read a book.

Implying that television shows and movies aren't already full of blatant subliminal manipulation lol.

What ever become of the regs that were going to be passed that prevented the sound on the commercials to be louder than the regular programming. Guess that go squashed.

Originally posted by Aleister
reply to post by Daedal

 

People, just go down to your local thrift store and buy a few VCR machines (one to use, a couple for backup). There is nothing like an old VCR to tape a show and skip the commercials. Many machines come with slots for VCR and DVD's.

Bravo for this post!! Well done. I often get ridiculed by my friends for not having the latest and greatest tech gizmos. Think about it though - more recent tech gadgets also have many more avenues of control built right in. The more analog a device is, the harder it is for the media giants and government to control.

Man commercials were what made getting rid of my tv easy!
I know they gotta make a buck, just like internet ads < shakes fist > but I don't have to like it!

This law is a demonstration of the lengths marketing can and will go, for better or worse in product promotion.
Realizing the power and drive of marketing forces, I think, as some sci-fi flicks have depicted, our world will be plastered with trademarks, logos and flashing lights, pleading for us buy something we really don't need.

Have you ever considered just how much exposure to marketing we endure? It seems every where my eyes rest, I'm being sold the best. From the time I awake, brand names, sounds and symbols are so everywhere I look, each moment, all day.

Pardon the rant-ish digression...
Spec

Originally posted by Aleister
reply to post by Daedal

 

People, just go down to your local thrift store and buy a few VCR machines (one to use, a couple for backup). There is nothing like an old VCR to tape a show and skip the commercials. Many machines come with slots for VCR and DVD's.

what are you living in the stone age?

its the time for HTPC's (Internet TV + Cable/Sat PVR)

I personally use MythTV with a XBMC frontend

VCR's are soo 90's

Anyone noticed that the major networks have taken control of On Demand?

First, there were no commercials during On Demand programming.

Second, commercials came. However we could fast forward through them....

Third, they blocked fast forwarding. Now we can just rewind.

Well here's a big FU to the networks - you can still hit the Page UP on the remote then rewind a bit to skip the commercials. HAHAHA! EAT THAT CORPORATE NETWORKS!

Originally posted by OccamsRazor04
reply to post by Daedal

 

The issue is that Dish allows "automatic" commercial skipping. Which is different than fast forwarding.

Exunctly.

But in typical ATS style, everyone has totally missed that fact, bought the OP story and believed the headline.

They are not saying you are breaking the law by not watching ads. They are claiming that the new box provided by Dish, which edits out the ads totally, is in breach of copyright as it makes a change to the programme and then "rebroadcasts" it.

That said, industry analysts think this is a move by Dish to force networks to charge less. In a quid pro quo arrangement, they can turn off this feature in return for lower charges, which is the cornerstone of their business model.

Also, for those claiming that there would be no TV without Ad's, I beg to differ.

There are plenty of examples around the world of ad-free TV. Take the BBC, for example. But, shock horror, we have to pay a TV licence, which I know many Yanks think is just a step away from a Police State complete with armed airships hovering in the sky, troopers shooting children in the streets and everyone being chipped......

Can I cuss in this thread please? I would like to say very many choice words for these ******** ********* they should ******* *********** **** *** *** ** * **********

Idiots. This is just out of control our world is being ran by morons!

reply to post by Daedal


The problem with commercials is they take up way too much time to fill consumers with needless information. We don't need little stories. We don't need to know how many awards a car has won. Or that 9 out of 10 dentists prefer this gum over that one.

What do consumers want to know"

1. What is it?
2. What does it cost.
3. What does it do?

That's it! And yet, most of the time the commercials won't even tell us the price.

I placed 'What does it do' after 'What does it cost' because if the price is wrong, I don't care if Wonder Bread can be used to wash windows, I'm not paying $7.99 for a loaf. So, the price has to be right.

So, how long does a commercial need to be? Answer: About as long as it takes for you to take in all the info in this image (about 7 seconds?):

Just ask ATS owners how they feel with this. As we all know or should know you can`t block adds here either.

So playing by the rules I just use my ability to not pay attention to them and never ever click on one.

My sister was always pretty good at muting the commercials. Besides it seems most commercials are pushing drugs with pretty crazy side effects on TV.

Originally posted by stumason
Also, for those claiming that there would be no TV without Ad's, I beg to differ.

There are plenty of examples around the world of ad-free TV. Take the BBC, for example. But, shock horror, we have to pay a TV licence, which I know many Yanks think is just a step away from a Police State complete with armed airships hovering in the sky, troopers shooting children in the streets and everyone being chipped......

LOL Your BBC is owned by the government. The shows you watch are paid by your taxes.