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Get potentially ANY TV Channel On The Internet free | Copyright Nightmare?

webtvhub.com — Using a new peer to peer technology you can potentially get any channel broadcast on the internet for free. The new controversial TVUPlayer could be the TV studio ’s biggest enemy since Napster! Channels already being broadcast on the net without permission include CBS, ESPN, NBA TV, ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, Comedy Central, Disney and more

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  • kiki4, on 10/12/2007, -4/+19I'm amazed at all the channels that are available on the Internet for free! I think it's amazing the technology that is out there on line. I have found so many informational channels on-line just in the past few weeks and more seem to be added everyday. The amazing thing about them is the fact that a lot of the channels offer their programming for free. With what is charged for cable and satellite TV these days I am really surprised that these channels on the Internet don't charge something for their programs..So be it I'll take advantage of these channels for free. There is everything available from children's programs and sport programs to gardening, world news and entertainment. Who needs cable TV when you have the Internet channels for free!
    • Monolith2, on 10/12/2007, -5/+25As great as this is, this is the type of software thats going to force the government to start regulating the internet.
    • dagnabbit, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15I can see myself now...Sportscenter is on! Where'd it go?! It's back on! It's gone again!
    • gotamd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10ABC's doing pretty well so far: http://dynamic.abc.go.com/streamin

      Are any of the other major networks doing the same?
    • understudy, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5@monolith

      You say because of free TV and related services, the government will be _forced_ to regulate the entire internet? Wow, that's like putting me in a body cast for a sprained ankle.

      _
    • kLacK, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Its like a live streaming bittorrent
    • diggmaddy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I've used ABC's online player. TV show layout and browsing was decent but their proprietary flash player sucked big time. Even with a T3 internet connection, it kept complaining about my low speed connection and playback was choppy and sometimes stopped completely. Let alone the lack of being able to watch it full screen.
    • Yez70, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It's more likely this could lead to national cable franchise legislation. California recently enacted a statewide franchise policy, but it's too soon to see how it effects and/or benefits either consumers or providers. Opponents are pointing out it lets cable companies cherry pick neighborhoodss for services, soemthing the local franchises protected them from before.

      A national cable franchise would standardize service. It would also give the cable companies legal rights to fight internet TV providers, including the free ones like TVU.

      If congress pulls it's head out of it's butt - not likely - we could end up with some decent protections for consumers, but it's more likely the corporate interests will win financially in the end.

      Either way, stopping free online cable is not possible, it's as idiotic a fight as trying to stop piracy. It will draw more attention to the fact that it exists and cable companies will lose out in the end.

      The best way for them to fight it is to provide better service, quality and more options that the consumer wants, not what the content providers want; as the current system is setup.
    • tomfinn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@gotamd

      CBS and NBS are also streaming a large number of their primetime shows on their websites. You get shorted commercials and can watch whenever you want. I watch CSI every week and have decided not to pay the outrageous prices for cable.

      --Tom
    • nibble128, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The only people I know that would complain is the cable/satellite companies, The stations shouldn't even for this very important fact: The commercials are still there, and the channel advertisement (you are now watching *insert label*TV) are still there.

      Now that I think about it, the cable and satellite companies shouldn't complain either... they are supplying the Internet! Maybe we will finally see the death of Cable/Sat and those dedicated lines will be transferred over to us net users!
    • doubledoh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@gotamd & others

      None of these websites (ABC, NBC etc) allow non-US residents to stream from their websites presumably because their advertisers only pay for US residents, so I use bittorrent instead. Bittorrent has no commercials at all, so they lose out entirely.

      They'd make way more money if they advertised global services on the internet and opened up their shows to the entire world instead. Life if they used Cocacola, Mcdonalds, honda, etc...global brands...they could easily open it up to non-american markets too. Too bad they're idiots.
    • RandomSkratch, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6@dagnabbit
      Bart and Lisa: PLUG IT IN! PLUG IT IN!
      Nerds: What? The rock tumbler or the TV?
      Bart and Lisa: THE TV! THE TV!
    • samfrench, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2People who are saying the stations arn't affected are wrong, they are. From my understanding the cable company pays the station to carry them.
    • jabbar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@diggmaddy

      to get the full screen on a mac, command-option-8 and then command-option-(+) to zoom. still looks really good.
  • andybreene, on 10/12/2007, -4/+27I think TVUPlayer actually has a good chance of coping with any legal pressure because:

    1. the adverts stay intact.
    2. similar technology is being used on an individual basis - e.g slingbox, sony locationfree, this is the next logical step.

    If this sort of technology does become popular and stand up to legal pressure it could be amazing!
    • dagnabbit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6The stations may not sue, but the cable providers most likely would. Even if you have a slingbox, don't you still need a provider for your main connection at home? This circumvents them entirely.
    • vertinox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14But... The Cable providers aren't the content owners. They simply license it from the channels.
    • jmikola, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4"the adverts stay intact."

      how does this apply to premium channels (e.g. HBO, Showtime), which don't contain advertisements during the broadcast? i haven't seen the software itself but i imagine it'd facilitate broadcasting pay-per-view content as well, be it movies or sporting events.
    • exobyte, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2That's why you pay extra for premium channels. You really are paying for content with them.
    • locojones, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Copyright law has nothing to do with keeping commercials intact. It's about protecting the exclusive rights of the copyright holders. In these cases, it violates both the exclusive right to distribute held by the companies who produce the content, and the public performance/broadcast right licensed to broadcasters. Download your copy now, because it will soon be wiped from the face of the planet the legal smackdown will be so hard.
  • Jensaarai, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Yeah I don't exactly follow how the Networks dislike this. I can understand how content providers such as satellite and cable companies dislike it, but for the channels themselves? Unless they get paranoid about people's ability to record off these devices, this can only be a good thing for channels, TV studios, and their advertisers.
    • kbeemanSWN, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Your broadcast providers, ABC, CBS, NBC, etc probally have very little problem with this type of setup.

      However, your cable channels (I'm referring to the the actual channels and not the provider), will. There is a reason you pay your cable provider 50 bucks (or more, a lot more depending on what you choose) for cable service.

      Fox News for example, just renegotiated its rate, and I believe its $0.75 per subscriber. ESPN is the highest if I'm not mistaken in the rates it charges cable providers, close to $3.00.
  • Archeologist, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9This is almost too good to be true...
    • MattR, on 10/12/2007, -6/+22It is, That screen capture is fake, for one Sponge Bob Square Pants is not on Cartoon Network, and second if you google image for Sponge Bob you get the same picture
    • TheDarkTipper, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1rofl, I was about to comment those same words.
  • MikeWilson, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Is the program in breach of copyrights, like, actually? Because if it is, it probably won't stay up long, however, programs like Limewire, and Kazaa, where never actually in breach, because they themselves didn't host the program.
  • dilbertmouse, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13FTA: "However, TVUPlayer does seem to have the get out that it doesn’t distribute the channels itself, it just provides the technology. How people use this technology is up to them."

    Yes, because that's worked for so many others.
    • Baddox, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5The technology here is NOT new---what's it called again...oh, streaming video.
    • Jugalator, on 10/12/2007, -4/+30Yeah, the "we just provide the technology" philosophy only works for gun makers, developers of various toxic substances, etc. As soon as it's about the horrible, horrible copyright crime, the messenger is shot on sight.
    • EtherGnat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1If I interpreted the Supreme Court's decision in the Grokster and friends case (they sidestepped a lot of the issues) correctly the basic ruling is the technology *IS* ok assuming it has non-infringing uses and the product was not advertised or promoted as a method of piracy.
    • andybreene, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The blame it on the users excuse has worked for Bittorrent, Azeureus, Emule etc for a long time, thats why filesharing still exists.

      As for the technology: it is new and not old. It is built upon streaming video and peer to peer. The difference is that it is live video over a peer to peer network which has not been done before (atleast not in this way). Read the article
    • Bootes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1And because they're based in China, I doubt they care at all about what the Supreme Court or any content provider says or wants.

      Also Baddox it's is more than just streaming video, it's p2p streaming video. Watchers use their upload bandwidth at the same time as watching to stream it to others.
  • Area51mafia, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2It's been a while since I used Napster when it worked (6 years or so), but I don't recall it being able to transfer videos. So, how was it ever an enemy of the TV Studios?
    • kbeemanSWN, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3All you had to do was rename "some_pr0n_movie.avi" to "some_p0rn_movie.mp3" and it would transfer it.
    • H3g3m0n, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The way I remember it, you had to use some special program to encode and decode the files as mp3s rather than just renaming it. Then you just searched for files with that programs name as part of the tag.
  • Baddox, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Why would this pose an additional "threat" to that posed by high-res digital rips of primetime shows distributed through Bittorrent? The digital rips are much better quality AND lack commercials---they'd aren't live, of course, but thy show up the day after airing. Programs the likes of this TVU (which by the way isn't new to me OR to digg) aren't that great if you ask me.
  • drjekelmrhyde, on 10/12/2007, -10/+0TVU players channels are mostly sports also you need a 5mbs+ connection atleast
    • andybreene, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7no you dont. I have a 1mpbs and it worked fine.
    • Butters66, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Directv payed billions for exclusive access to NFL games. If you can watch them for free in other markets this kills the the Sunday ticket. They must sue. This, much like napster, will come down to who has better lawyers.

      A great idea. Watch it while you can.
    • DDoSAttack, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1@Butters66

      Seriously, who wants to watch a sporting event AFTER it is complete? The only times someone may want to watch that sort of thing is if it is a "classic" such as the Miami vs Florida game a few years back when they came back from a 30+ point deficit or the "Ice Bowl" etc...

      Sporting events are best consumed live, otherwise they are only good for highlights.
    • slipsec, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Or Bears vs Cardinals :)

      --go bears
  • oliwer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3This cannot legaly works with channels like FOX because most of the new series have territorial exclusivity. They can only be shown in the US and nowhere else, during a certain period of time.
    • andybreene, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3yes that is the big issue surronding this software
  • aurifex, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Come on, we all know this bad because anything digital is bad. ARRRR.
  • Lane, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Free use anyone? anyone!?
  • EXreaction, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4All I am wondering...

    Is does this include loads of spyware along with it?

    Probably not, but it sounds too good to be true. I will just have to give it a try myself. :-P
    • andybreene, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I tried it and no spyware. Pretty quick and simple install.
    • CapeKid, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5nope, it's spyware free. At least it was for me, when this was on digg about 3 weeks ago.
  • 3rdeyepro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Uh I tried this and no channels appear in the list...
    • steve693, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Same thing here.
    • EbowUK, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Are you both not based in the US? I'm in the UK and no channels here either.
    • 3rdeyepro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I am in the US
    • EbowUK, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Ok, my bad, it just needed a while to reach across the atlantic and grab the channels file.

      Wow, quality is excellent.

      WTF is the Sci-Fi channel?!?
    • xDiloveyouu, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Science Fiction.

      im pretty sure its already been posted too. i see TVUPlayer.zip in my flashget download already
    • anjinash, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Ditto. I get no channel listing at all, and their website doesn't seem to have any troubleshooting guides at all.
    • kLacK, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1No channels here either
    • kLacK, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Just wait for a while, they will appear
    • whammypower, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1I am not getting a channel list, either.
    • d00by, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1no chanels for me either. I think we have dugg-effected an entire tv network ;)
  • funtownarcade, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8call me when its in HD
    • mtriper, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6CALLING FUNTOWNARCADE!!!

      They already had some HD channels running but I guess it got dropped off the grid. It was mostly Asian networks but it worked amazingly well over a 2mb connection.

  • HP844182, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Now I just need that BBC channel that Top Gear is on and I'd be set....
    • jubba, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Top Gear's not going to back on for aaaaaages. :(
  • burkay, on 10/12/2007, -6/+5We are one step closer to digital pizza.
  • HanSolo69, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3who used napster to download TV? I would think this would be the biggest threat to television since Bit Torrent.
  • jamesthejust, on 10/12/2007, -8/+19No mac version :(
  • Lane, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2Wow i hardly realized this was what ive been using for quite some time now. i dare not tune into "al jazeera" TV but it might be an entertaining show. WTF happend to the HBO channel?
  • Butters66, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1If Sling box is legal, is it legal to allow others to view my sling box? This is pretty close to that. Why shouldn't a person be able to watch another person's box?

    It might not end up being legal, but the idea has the moral high ground, IMO. Yes, networks deserve to make money from content they create and provide, but the current system was designed in a world of OTA. The way we watch content on the Internet has changed this, and systems that benefit the ability of the consumer to watch what they want, when they want, will eventually win.

    The cat is out of the bag, so to speak.

    Look at XM and Sirius, they now offer full Internet subscriptions. That means anyone in the world can listen to Sat radio. This is the future and the providers who embrace it will win the 21st century.
    • JohnCrichton, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Ok, ok.

      Can I take a gander at your wife's box then?
    • locojones, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1No, it's not legal. You'd be involved in unauthorized distribution of copyrighted works to the public violating 17 USC 106.
  • Benad, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1The only way this could be as popular as BitTorrent is if it was open source and cross-platform. Otherwise, the makers of TVUPlayer could be sued too easily into oblivion...
  • Schug, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3On the screenshot, Spongebob is playing on Cartoon Network. . . WTF?
  • rebrane, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Come on, surely somebody has to have a torrent of the software or something.
  • thombone, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Trust me, you don't want this (yet, anyway). It royally sucks. If channels play at ALL, the quality is horrible. Most channels don't play, those that do can take up to five minutes to buffer and annoyingly rebuffer constantly. And the best part? The software crashes CONSTANTLY.

    Nice idea, poor, poor execution. Stick with torrents of the shows you want to watch, you'll be much happier.

    ...and I have a very fast (9 MBPS down, 768k up cable connection here)
    • rfunches, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I haven't had any major problems with it. I use it to watch CNN while I'm at work and it is a live feed (out of California, but that only affects commercials) that looks pretty decent -- the video is decent enough that I can read the news ticker most of the time. For those who can't see any channels, I don't know of a solution, but it is working fine.
  • sparrowkc, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1My only question is: Is there any possible way legal action could be taken against me.
  • drjekelmrhyde, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3the Star TV channel on this player have those crazy ass Japanese gameshows
  • Reidtheweed01, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Now all they need is ESPNU, becuase those assholes at disney are trying to use Ohio State who has the largest fan base so they can get cable companies to pick up their channel and so people will subsribe to it.

    ***** you ESPN.
    • MicroBerto, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Agreed... although this week's OSU game isn't big, they are nearly extorting all of the die-hard Buckeye fans.

      In the end, it's the bars of Ohio that will end up doing best. It's too late for anyone to really want ESPN Gameplan.
    • fufubag, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You'd think the Ohio State boosters could somehow get some pull with Disney on this. Oh wait, they spend all their money on players.
  • rayde, on 10/12/2007, -8/+6why don't you post about it on Digg and bring more attention to it? dumbass
  • Anzas, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2most of the world doesn't yet have the internet infrastructure needed to support quality live tv. this idea will be a breakthrough in a few years when more people will have symmetrical 100Mb lines.
  • algorythm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2seems to have quite a bit of delay from the TV.
  • giociampa, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Um... how exactly is this any different from, say, Sopcast?
    • hcl40u, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Main advantage for TVUPlayer is it has the most number of US channels amongst other P2P TV programs.
  • MASTERPL, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3doesn't pull a channel list, and I've waited 10 minutes each time. Refreshed, restarted, NADA.
  • stugatz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2what, no playboy tv? wheres the spice channel!
  • godsfshrmn, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9Im going to mirror it here for a little while, download is insanely slow:

    http://www.eqsig.com/TVUPlayer.zip
  • wush, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Is there anything similar that lets you stream the standard UK channels? (BBC1, BBC2, ITV, CH4)
  • hcl40u, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Channel list(put it in TVUPlayer folder in c:Program FilesTVUPlayer).
    http://www.sendspace.com/file/donipt
  • T3CK, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I use the TVU playin with my PSP since the TVU player can stream whatever it plays i just stream it to my psp just like location free player, here is the link to all the files you need to run the tvu player on the PSP the only things there is not a way to change channells on psp yet you have to go back to computer to change channell
    http://dl.qj.net/TVUPlayer-on-PSP-PSP-Media/pg/12/fid/9975/catid/142
  • Adrnshw6, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I think we killed the site...
    http://www.viidoo.com/
  • godsfshrmn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Can you somehow get a direct link to these streams or use this with Windows Mobile 5? Maybe use orb.com?
    • Fr8Hor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Agreed. Have had minimal issues in the last 20 days with TVU. A few of the obscure channels are a bit choppy, and they all can be a little sketchy when loading. After maybe 30sec however, this is quite good quality.
      As Schwack mentions above, if your system doesn't have the ability to hang, then you likely will get a second rate result.

      Now...Somebody please upload The MTN...CSTV's problem child that nobody can get!
  • schwack, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2Not to be a geek or anything.. but you diggers do realize watching streaming media puts a very strong load on your video card, right? You do understand unless you have between 768M-2GB of memory, have a broadband connection with a healthy down rate, and a video card with some testosterone in it, you will find streaming TV to be a struggle.

    As mentioned earlier, cool idea, the internet so far remains largely out of regulation (online gambling and the early napster years are exceptions). Im not worried about breaking the law at all here. The content is out there for everyone, that's how the net has always been and always will be. And agreed earlier as well that- in the next couple years, if the networks and the ISP's play it SMART, they can focus their growth on providing content. LOTS of content.
    • Beholder420, on 10/12/2007, -5/+0yup..a lot of you with the buffering issues and channel viewing trouble probably lack the system requirements for intensive video streaming software such as this. I've been using this for weeks with no trouble on a AMD64 rig with an ATI X850 pro 256mb and 2G of ram. The channels load in mere seconds on a 10mb connection and rarely stutter
  • ciccarone, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2why do people like watching this type of video, with all it's pixelly crap and buffering. I'd rather pay for my comcast and be happier.
  • rrobster, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Everytime I look at one of these, it's like this:
    It's streaming video
    It's a slideshow
    It's stream.....nevermind, it's a slideshow again.
    Rinse
    Repeat.
  • KANSUO, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I've been waiting for a channel to start up for a good bit now. Am I missing something, or have we just put a huge load on wherever these feeds are comming from? I tried to pick something I figured people wouldn't be watching (like random asian channels), but so far, no luck.
  • myfanwy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2so, cough, who's got this running under wine?
    • H3g3m0n, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Installs fine but when run dead locks for me, just creates a small window (just big enough to show an icon) :(

      Personally I would love a similar thing for mythtv, just when your not using your tuner it allows others to connect to it and streams it with low quality over the net but im guessing if it was done to a public database people would start getting those legal notices like bittorrent.

      Wine error message:-
      fixme:ole:CoGetClassObject CLSCTX_REMOTE_SERVER not supported
      err:ole:CoGetClassObject no class object {2933bf90-7b36-11d2-b20e-00c04f983e60} could be created for context 0x17
      err:ole:CoGetClassObject class {2933bf90-7b36-11d2-b20e-00c04f983e60} not registered
      err:ole:CoGetClassObject no class object {2933bf90-7b36-11d2-b20e-00c04f983e60} could be created for context 0x1
      err:ntdll:RtlpWaitForCriticalSection section 0x7e60ec40 "x11drv_main.c: X11DRV_CritSection" wait timed out in thread 0009, blocked by 000e, retrying (60 sec)
      err:ole:CoGetClassObject class {2933bf90-7b36-11d2-b20e-00c04f983e60} not registered
      err:ole:CoGetClassObject no class object {2933bf90-7b36-11d2-b20e-00c04f983e60} could be created for context 0x1
      err:syslevel:_EnterSysLevel (0x7ed611a0, level 2): Holding 0x7ec52800, level 3. Expect deadlock!
      err:syslevel:_EnterSysLevel (0x7ed611a0, level 2): Holding 0x7ec52800, level 3. Expect deadlock!
      err:syslevel:_CheckNotSysLevel Holding lock 0x7ec52800 level 3
  • kdubbz6688, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1doosh why did you post this? Now its goning to be cornholed by the athorities.
  • kdubbz6688, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1and i think all of digg is watching something with this now... so its definitly crapping out. Fox doesnt work either...shti teh bed.
  • starseed420, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Great.. now I get to watch all those commercials I've been missing since canceling my cable .. seriously though this is very very impressive, I can't get any sort of broadcast tv in the building I live, this is a big deal for me.
  • afrazkhan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1
    "This already impressive lineup of channels is available from any internet enabled PC in the world"

    Non Windows users, don't get too excited. Windows only, despite what the article says.
    • firsttube, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I consider myself a non-windows user, but i do happen to have windows on my mac too.... currently watching cavs vs raptors on an intel imac.
  • n8to, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Friggin' sweet!!!! I'm watching the Flames - Habs game on this....in French, mind you, but it beats the radio!

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