IsleOfMan

Can you queue multiple items to record overnight? So have it record multiple movies/shows in sequence from 11pm to 7am, for example? Also, can you record multiple streams at the same time (bandwidth and account access permitting)?

Or can you only start a single recording at a time manually?

joshwex90

So once recorded, it's saved on my hard drive and plays nicely on VLC?

IsleOfMan

Indeed.

joshwex90

The only reason I was trying to confirm was because it just seems too good to be true. $20 for a lifetime license to "download" any movie/TV show I watch on Netflix?

IsleOfMan

The legality is the sticky point, not the ability do record internet streams with software.

joshwex90

Why would it be illegal if I'm not copying? How is it different from a DVR?

IsleOfMan

Mainly because of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act... any software that circumvents digital copy protection methods put in place by the content owner or distributor is in violation. It could be argued, but I'm fairly certain this would qualify as circumvention.

JMN57

Got it - not having kids, I forget that they can obsessively watch the same thing over and over.

JMN57

I have queued multiple recordings serially. I have not done parallel and, short of having multiple PCs that have PlayLater, don't think it can be done. Yes, bandwidth could be a problem.

JMN57

I believe the thinking is if you did so to watch the content once, then deleting, it would be an appropriate rental use. If you "kept" the rental though, it becomes more like "buying".

For services like NetFlix where it is flat price and the title is always available, I don't see much problem. It get more problematic when it is Amazon, not Prime but a paid rental and they are also selling the title. In that case, recording it and then not deleting after a viewing promotes the rental to a purchase, so to speak.

pseudoswede

Based on my limited experience with the product, you can queue up as much content as you'd like. It appears you can only record one show at a time.

joshwex90

With Netflix, is it legally a "rental?"

I don't rent from Amazon but I have Amazon Prime, so use that.

And then there's Hulu and the networks - that is almost literally a direct analogy to DVR

Anyways, I asked a lawyer friend about the legality, and here's what he said: "Seems to me it would be legal so long as they are paying rights fees for recording content or if content is available without a subscription as some networks allow -but won't let you skip commercials. I guess the question I would have is what this service provides that HULU, Netflix, etc. do not."

Dodge DeBoulet

Your wording is a bit unclear on the subject, which is why I feel the need to point out that many NetFlix streaming titles are not available indefinitely. Some are, but the majority are available only for the duration of the agreement with the owner of the title. Whether that has any impact on the legality of PlayLater, though, I'm not qualified to say.

IsleOfMan

You're all forgetting that the DMCA pretty much negates fair use as this is still bypassing encryption (even if it is more going around it than actually breaking it). Even if not illegal, it's most definitely breaking the T&C of most or all of the services it is recording from.

In the most practical sense, if people just want to steal content they're not going to pay for PlayLater, pay for the Streaming Services, and take the time/effort to record it themselves... they're just going to download it from BitTorrent or Usenet. And if someone really wants to be a distributor of pirated content, they're not going to go this route either as, by the time something is on even Amazon for rental/purchase, it's already been on BT/Usenet for a month or more and in BluRay quality.

While I'd say there are some laws being broken here, PlayLater sits so far outside of the bulk of copyright infringement (lag in content availability and paying for things that can already be pirated easier for free) that I don't think its use is all that nefarious.

zippy the pinhead

Fry's has been clearing out an HP Pocket Player with 32 GB of storage. You can use it to stream PlayLater stuff over the device's WiFi. I picked up two last month for $20 each plus tax after a friend tipped me off.