Monday, March 17, 2008
MobiTV vs. The Whole Internet: FIGHT! (A Retrospective)
Posted by Jason Dunn in "THOUGHT" @ 04:00 PM
The following is a story that started and finished in a matter of days - but I thought it was worth informing you about because I felt everyone should know what MobiTV tried to do, and what some of the challenges are that online community leaders face.
On March 4th, the people at MobiTV make a mistake - a very big mistake. Here's the story, quoted from the MobiTV Wikipedia entry (with URLs inserted by myself for added clarity to the story)
"On February 23, 2008, a member of HowardForums obtained the means elsewhere to gain access to MobiTV streaming video feeds without any paid subscription.[1] It was done by obtaining an XML file at a publicly accessible URL. This file contained the RTSP links to different unsecure program feeds including MSNBC, Bloomberg TV, Discovery Channel, etc, which were offered in the Sprint TV Xtra subscription. With internet connection and compatible media playback applications like RealPlayer or Apple QuickTime Player, these unsecure 38kbps streaming video feeds could be watched on many cellphones and computers.
MobiTV's legal counsel issued a letter dated March 4, 2008, demanding Howard Chui, owner of HowardForums, to remove the displayed links to the proprietary file because MobiTV's intellectual property rights had been violated according to the DMCA.[2] In the letter, MobiTV's legal counsel also suggested that they have been contacting HowardForums' site host and registrar regarding this matter. They would pursue legal actions if Chui did not comply." Read more...
On March 4th, the people at MobiTV make a mistake - a very big mistake. Here's the story, quoted from the MobiTV Wikipedia entry (with URLs inserted by myself for added clarity to the story)
"On February 23, 2008, a member of HowardForums obtained the means elsewhere to gain access to MobiTV streaming video feeds without any paid subscription.[1] It was done by obtaining an XML file at a publicly accessible URL. This file contained the RTSP links to different unsecure program feeds including MSNBC, Bloomberg TV, Discovery Channel, etc, which were offered in the Sprint TV Xtra subscription. With internet connection and compatible media playback applications like RealPlayer or Apple QuickTime Player, these unsecure 38kbps streaming video feeds could be watched on many cellphones and computers.
MobiTV's legal counsel issued a letter dated March 4, 2008, demanding Howard Chui, owner of HowardForums, to remove the displayed links to the proprietary file because MobiTV's intellectual property rights had been violated according to the DMCA.[2] In the letter, MobiTV's legal counsel also suggested that they have been contacting HowardForums' site host and registrar regarding this matter. They would pursue legal actions if Chui did not comply." Read more...
