Copy Protected Commercials

[bjruska]

My LG DVD Recorder/Video Cassette Recorder has begun stopping while recording regular TV shows. Last night I watched while it recorded and a Microsoft commercial caused a Copy-Protected data error.

How do I get around this so I can go back to recording regular TV shows?

[Krispy Kritter]

There isn't a way, that I'm aware anyway, of bypassing the copy protection on DVD Recorders. There were a few older models (no longer available) that ignored the copy protection, but all of the current models available in the US will enforce it. There aren't any hacks or ways to shut it off. You're only solution is to switch to a DVR.

[bjruska]

I have since found out that some commercials and TV shows have "One Time Copy Protection". That means you can copy them "One Time", but you must have a DVD harddrive that is CDPR enabled or in my case have DVD disks with CPRM, Content Protection for Recordable Media. I have ordered such disks from JVC and hope they will work.

[Chopmeister]

We don't have commercials that do this (as far as I am aware!) in this country yet, so I haven't had this problem. However, if the signal is coming off a cable box through SVHS or composite connectors, I suspect that putting a fairly bog-standard video stabiliser (of the type that deal with macrovision when transferring old VHS movies to DVDR) might fix the problem. If you have one lying around, its worth a try.

[orsetto]

For some unfathomable reason, this "copy protected commercial" phenomenon is occurring more and more frequently in the USA of late. There are only two explanations: the broadcasters are idiots who don't monitor their settings, or this is done on purpose as a covert method of timeshift prevention, so they can later claim "its not our fault, the PROGRAM wasn't copy protected". Either way, the consumer is effectively being prevented from recording material they have every right to record. (This also decreases viewership, and commercial exposure, which makes it even more idiotic- but that's Hollywood.)

Unfortunately, the only way around this is to connect a CP filter between the incoming source and your recorder, as suggested earlier. This pretty much disables the recorders internal tuner and makes multi-event timer recording into a big pain. You need to have a cable/satellite box, or an external tuner (such as an ATSC adapter box). Connect the outputs of your source tuner to the inputs of the filter, and the outputs of the filter to the line inputs of your recorder. From then on, all your recordings would go thru the recorders line connections, not its tuner. Unless your cable/satellite box or ATSC converter has its own built-in program timer, you will not be able to record multiple events unattended, only one.