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[Alex Wilson <alex AT awstudios.net>]

On 11/19/04 2:15 PM, "Alan MacHett" <machett AT ibiblio.org> wrote:
 
> But then I noticed the comment about TiVo noticing an X% spike in user
> rewinds during the Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction".  Hmmmm.... now
> that definitely seems like an invasion of privacy.  It's one thing for a
> provider to know that I'm watching a particular movie, but for them to
> know, say, that I've paused on a particular scene?

I've been a user since late 2002 and if I hadn't bought one, I probably
wouldn't watch any TV. I just won't or can't fit my schedule around mostly
mediocre entertainment.

Tivo insists that they track the data anonymously (that they don't even keep
track of where it's coming from, lest we fear Big Brother wants to know who
saw some damning piece of evidence that airs on C-SPAN on some theoretical
Tuesday night) and if they do sell that info it must come at a high price
tag, because Nielson otherwise wouldn't go to subscribers to track their
habits, but instead just purchase the info from Tivo:

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/13/2320231

Here would be a fun practical joke to play on Tivo: If you can organize
(somehow beneath Tivo's radar) online a mass effort of Tivo users to all
pause and replay numerous times some arbitrary moment on TV, like Jon
Stewart making saying "We'll be right back" on April 1, 2005.

Alex.

http://www.alexwilson.com - Alex Wilson Studios
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