HBO seeks to prevent recording of on-demand programming

The copyright owners are in the long-term game of increasing protection from a reasonable term -- perhaps 14 years* -- beyond the unreasonable terms they have already achieved to the point where copyright lasts "forever less one day" (in Jack Valenti's phrase).

In the US, part of the strategy is to introduce a broadcast flag to control or prevent copying. And America's HBO channel seems to be the first to try to insert the thin end of the wedge. As Arts Technica reports:

HBO has joined the fray with a recent FCC filing in which it argues that its video-on-demand programming -- and all "Subscription Video On Demand" services -- should fall into the category of "Copy Never." In a broadcast-flagged world, that translates into consumers not being able to record on-demand broadcasts by HBO. No TiVo, no VCR, no video capturing on your PC, no nada.

As Ars technica notes:

To be clear, HBO's filing only affects on-demand programming. Currently, HBO broadcasts are DRMed using CGMS-A which allows users to make one copy of regular HBO programming and prohibits them from copying or recording HBO On-Demand broadcasts. Their use of CGMS-A has also led to some users being told that they must delete content due to time restrictions. Given the MPAA's stated desire of having the ability to lock down all programming, it's not a stretch of the imagination to reason that all HBO content will someday be flagged as "Copy Prohibited Content" should our lawmakers fall down on the job.

With "Copy Prohibited Content," of course, you have to pay every time you watch something, which is the ultimate point of the game.

* The Copyright Act of 1790 "granted American authors the right to print, re-print, or publish their work for a period of fourteen years and to renew for another fourteen." After numerous amendments, it now extends to the life of the author plus 70 years, and for "works made for hire," it's 95 years -- which shows flagrant disregard if not contempt for Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the US Constitution. See: A History of Copyright in the United States.