Is Your Television Watching You?

from the the-government-might-be... dept

Here’s a nice article for all of you interested in privacy issues. It turns out that under the beloved Partiot Act, the government can now demand from non-cable companies such as TiVo or DirecTV a list of everything you’ve watched on your TV – and those companies will be forbidden from telling you that the information has been requested. So, not only can they find out what books you’ve been checking out of the library, they can also see what sort of subversive programs you’ve been watching. I’m sure the “Joe Millionaire” watchers are probably considered upstanding Americans, but I’m not sure about all you PBS viewers…


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Comments on “Is Your Television Watching You?”

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5 Comments
Anonymous Coward says:

No Subject Given

I would guess that most DirecTV and DishNetwork users do not get their local channels through the DSS. There are soem pretty strict rules about who can and cannot get local programmign via their mini dish, and on top of that, it tends (at least for DishNetwork) to be fairly expensive

Oliver Wendell Jones (profile) says:

Re: No Subject Given

You would guess wrong.

New legislation that went into effect in January (this year or last, I don’t remember, last I think) requires that they offer local channels to anyone who subscribes regardless of their ability to get local channel via antenna. The catch is that they have to offer all local channels that want to be offered, they can’t pick and choose.

I pay an extra few bucks a month for local channel access on Dish Network and it’s nice, because channel 4 is now on channel 4, 6 on 6, etc., no more trying to remember that channel 4 is on channel 8456, etc.

Karla says:

Re: Satellite TV

I have an old Primestar Dish
with an LNB.

Someone told me that I could
use this old dish to receive
TV signals.

All I need is a slow computer.
One that runs at about 75Mhz.

I would like to find out how
to make my old dish work so
I can get FREE TV.

Do you have any information
on using the type set up I
have?

Thank you.

Karla

Bob Dole says:

No Subject Given

As long as you don’t have your satellite receiver plugged into the phone line, there’s no way for Echostar or DirecTV to know what you’re watching. Echostar’s Tivo-like PVR feature doesn’t even need a phone connection.
So, basically, all the satellite companies will be telling the government is that you subscribe to Al-Jazeera and are addicted to PPV porn.

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