• by Tom Siebert , October 9, 2006

Bleeding-edge TV junkies may be salivating at the thought of TiVo's new Series3 HD model, but there's one new development that makes them want to spit.

The Series3, which costs $800, is the first DVR to market with the ability to record programs that air in high def. But it doesn't come with TiVoToGo--the ability to transfer the programs to customers' PCs, iPods or other mobile devices, or burn them to DVDs. All are part of TiVo's previous (and still available) Series2.

The reason? Hollywood's continuing and escalating battle against DVR capabilities through "Digital Rights Management" (DRM) restrictions. Thanks to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, passed by Congress in 1998, technology developers like TiVo cannot lawfully build devices that receive content digitally and bypass the DRM restrictions unless they get permission to do so.

The company that decides these things, a private nonprofit organization run by the cable companies, is Cable Research Laboratories, or CableLabs. It has not been approached by TiVo about expanding the capability in the Series 3, says Jud Cary, deputy general counsel for CableLabs.

"It's not been put on the table," Cary asserts. "We are in discussions about MRV [multi-room viewing], but TiVoToGo has not been submitted to CableLabs for review. We've never seen it."

Defenders say removing the portability function of TiVoToGo will stymie Internet piracy of content creators' product in the HD environment. But not everyone agrees.

Derek Slater, a rep for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit group that examines the digital rights of consumers, claims the move is part of Hollywood's strategy to increasingly constrict access to entertainment to as few platforms as possible, thereby forcing consumers to repeatedly purchase products.

"Hollywood has continually tried to rein in consumer freedom through its support of more restrictive, less useful devices," Slater says. "I am sure that TiVo is working with CableLabs to get some sort of feature approved, but it will not be the TiVoToGo that consumers have known and loved."

A spokesperson for TiVo would not answer direct questions about the Series3, CableLabs and DRM, but did release the following statement: "TiVo's primary goal was to launch and introduce the Series 3 to consumers in time for the holiday season this year. TiVo has the capability and a long history of downloading features to its customers on a regular basis. We are currently working with CableLabs on several technologies centered around moving content around the home environment."

Slater says the villain is not TiVo. "I don't blame TiVo. I blame the companies in Hollywood. They are the ones imposing these restrictions on TiVo. TiVo would love it if they could just create products for their customers."