Schedule Direct question

[whurlston]

sub, I'm not sure if you can answer this but I have a question regarding the Subscription Agreement.

Any attempt to access Licensed Data via software not included on the Approved Software List will constitute a breach of this Agreement.

Does this mean that if we want to use an app like I-XMLTv (for example) that it will need to be approved?

[sub]

I dont really have insights I can offer about this. I'm just reading the license from the outside like you.

I dont think anybody is going to care about utilities like I-xmltv massaging the data before its imported into apps like GB-PVR.

[whurlston]

I figured as much. Thanks.

[Jim_]

I’m not quite sure how to interpret that agreement, the parts I read looked a little disturbing.

This post took a while to put together (sorry about the length), but this looks like a good time to share a few of my thoughts so people arent waiting for an update that may not happen.
A zero-return freeware utility that a handful of GBPVR power-users use isn’t worth a lot of hassle or expense to either myself, TMS or their front end store SD.
I’ll probably email Robert or Tom in a month or so to see what their thoughts are, but the exposure of having it on a public approved SD list would just tie me up answering lots of “does it support this / can you change that” questions.
My time would be better spent badgering sub into adding a few features to gbpvr! LOL

A little I-xmltv background.

Early on in the development of I-xmltv, I posted a link to it on the TMS/Zap2It/Data Direct board asking them to look it over. And if they found any problem in sharing it, let me know so I could stop working on it and pull the file. You can see by my very creative user name :o that I didn’t even realize they had a web board when I first configured gbpvr.
There has never been a request to end development or pull the utility, and the post remains today with the standing offer.
You will need to login to the zap2it forum before clicking on the link.
http://bb.labs.zap2it.com/viewtopic.php?...ight=#3628

This may be a good time to save a copy here (in my next post), incase the zap forum is removed with the dd service.


My “freeware” utility has never modified any downloaded data as provided by the epg source, only the xmltv grabber output. It was also by design, not the end-use program, simply an enhancement utility for user provided xmltv files.

My understand is that XMLTV (including its output arrangement & format now locked by SD if you agree to their terms) is a world-wide open source project that was designed to give the “end user” a standardized output file they could use, intended by design to work with a multitude of programs.
One of the epg options from Schedules Direct may be an “xmltv compatible file“, but using my understanding of xmltv it is not an xmltv file, in spirit or by design.
It even appears that anyone who views (reads) the output file using notepad (a commercial program by the way) would be in violation of their terms. :eek:

The only remaining version(s) of I-xmltv that can be downloaded today (posted on 8/13/07) is on the developers forum and includes this simple “use agreement”.
-----------------
Use agreement: This "freeware" utility is free to use for personal use, when using non-commercial epg sources and programs. It is not free to sell or redistribute!
Beta, Amateur author, spare time support, the user assumes all risk of use.
Enjoy
-----------------

[Jim_]

13 June 2006
http://bb.labs.zap2it.com/viewtopic.php?...ight=#3628

Your ideas for improving Z2L performance/availability

Greetings all, Tom here.
<snip>
[/list]Other ideas?

Fire them our way. This thread, preferably, but email if you want: labs@zap2it.com.

Hi Tom,
I’m a hobbyist so it took some doing, but I’ve cut my personal data direct bandwidth to the bone.
When the 3-day limit was imposed I had two computers that would download 14-days each evening. And a stand-alone guide that would download 14-days, every 4th or 5th day.

I decided that xmltv (close to being a standard) combined with incremental updates would be the way to go, for me. So I wrote a utility called I-xmltv that uses xmltv to download a single 2-day and 1-day listing each evening, to maintain a 14-day epg for all my computers and guides.
http://gbpvr.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Utili...percharger

I’m just an amateur, and this was designed and intended only for the PVR I use “GBPVR”, but I’ve shared it in an attempt to reduce your bandwidth problems.
If sharing something that was intended for my personal use caused any problems please let me know so I can remove it or address them.
I’m also hoping you can keep your service “as is” in the future.

Jim