SKY Copyright protection Scam?

Oggy_Steve

I have a Toshiba HDD which I've had for a couple of years to record programs from the TV etc. Recently it has stopped recording anything From SKY, as in anything played through SKY ie BBC, ITV, SKY ONE etc.

It always blocked recording SKY Box Office, which was a pain but I can live with, but now it blocks ALL channels with the message appearing the source is copyright protected!

Is this a Scam to get me to buy a SKY+ box or is it something quite minor? .

I'm a Cynic and think it's a Scam, standing by for informed opinions.

leesmithg

Do what I did in the same situtaion, I gave bSkyb the flick.

I used to record lets say some after hours TV, set the video for 12 to record some le es bean action, for a couple of hours to watch during the evening when the children are tucked up safely asleep, it worked fine for a couple of years then bang, it then kept asking for a p.i.n. every 15 minutes.

So it's the last straw.

Going to get cable connected.

Or just purchase a digital box.

sco0ter

I have a liteon 5045 DVD/HDD recorder and I have never had a problem with recording anything including Box office.. I recorded one from box office last night.... I didnt even know sky protected these

robd831

My Liteon also works well recording everything off SKY, it even "backs up" most dvds via the scart connection However some Sony discs have a CC via scart but not via the red yellow white connectors at the front of the machine.....strange

Astaroth

The copy protection is typically carried in the spare lines (same place that teletext lives) and so the type of connection shouldnt make any difference.

The system used to, and I believe still does, work by massively fluctuating the signal strength in one of the spare lines. VCRs etc contain a chip which is designed to improve recording quality by evening out signal strengths but when fed with this intentionally messed up signal the VCR ruined the rest of the recording trying to fix what it thought was a problem. With more modern equipment it worked on the same principle but it recognises the signal for what it is and comes up with the copyright protection message rather than just making a useless recording.

Certainly a few years ago cheapo equipment did not contain this image improvement technology and therefore could record anything at all - though obviously picture quality could suffer if you signal did actually vary. I dont know if this is still the case?

As to the OP - I dont know any problems with recording at the moment though someone the other day did mention that they could not record off of Bravo but could still record off of other channels.

Oggy_Steve

Thanks for the replies.

I'll have a word with SKY tomorrow, something changed and I still feel it wiffs of a scam.

ianian99

try recording from the tv scart as opposed to the sky box scart

Oggy_Steve

Cheers I'll have a go at that, It certainly records the channels that way when using the TV Digital tuner, but I still can't record a a SKY channel whilst watching a DVD or another Digital TV channel as I've previously been able.:mad:

The normal and Digital signals are very poor here aswell, which has always been my primary reason for having Sky

Oggy_Steve

My mesage to SKY


"My Toshiba HDD/DVD recorder is being prevented from recording anything from SKY. I've had the both the SKY box and HDD for a couple of years with no problems, now I'm being prevented from recording anything by the message "the content is copyright protected" this applies to all channels, BBC, ITV, SKY1 etc

Is this a new policy by SKY to persuade me to splash out on a SKY box? Or am I just being cynical."

Oggy_Steve

Still No reply, maybe they want me to sit on the end of an premium rate number for 30 minutes to speak to someone who doesn't have a clue!

missile

Sky will not respond to messages like that :rotfl: