Ok, for those of us in the US, we'll be glad to know that Schedules Direct is now live with two weeks to spare. It seems that the easiest way to perform the upgrade is to upgrade to 0.20.2, and then change the configuration to use SD instead of Zap2IT. Note that I haven't done it myself yet, but that there are instructions on the MythTV wiki.
Its been a while since I have commented on the state of US guide data for MythTV here. That's mainly been because I have been waiting for the situation to become more clear. At this stage there are some interesting things to report: zap2it shutdown is still slated for September 1, 2007 MythTV developers, and others, have teamed together to form Schedules Direct as a replacement There are forums for Schedules Direct discussion Schedules Direct will be charging around $5 US a month, at least initially The first 100 beta testers have been added, and bugs found Code has been added to the development version of MythTV to start handling Schedules Direct (although you are not forced to upgrade to use the new guide data source)
I've been silent on the Zap2IT shutdown issue for a week or so now, mainly because of travel, and also because I was waiting for something useful to happen. I've ready literally hundreds of emails of the users mailing list -- many proposing architectures for distribution of data, or placing various demands about how much someone would be willing to pay for the data. I am yet to see someone actually sit down and write some code though. So hence this update. There isn't any useful news yet, except for a general reassurance that the developers promise that they are still working on a solution. So, keep on waiting is the plan for now...
I guess we're at a different phase of the Zap2IT guide data thing now. The story has broken, there's been tons of email on the mythtv-users mailing list (remember, don't panic!), and now things have quietened down. I think that's probably a good thing, because it almost certainly means people are now no longer distracted from actually sitting down and working on the problem. I imagine that journalists would make up some sensational thing to say to keep the story rolling during this quiet news cycle. I can't think of any such thing to say, and it wouldn't be ethical anyway. I must say that I think coverage like this isn't always helpful.
The Zap2IT forums has a thread about the shutdown (you need to have a Zap2IT login to get to the forum). One of the posts on the thread about the shutdown expands on the reasons for the free guide data shutting down: - Continued use of the service to support commercial products, in violation of the agreement. - Commercial products continued to grow despite previous appeals that this activity stop. - There are significant changes to the supporting data structure forthcoming and we could not devote resources to the continued upkeep and enhancements of the service. - Maintenance of the service is impacting our resource pool for other projects. - We sought alternative options but were unable to find a solution. - We recognize the hardship this creates for the user community. We are open to alternative solutions and would consider proposals that met the needs of the user community and our company. - We looked into options to turn this into a paid service however we do not have the infrastructure at this time. So it seems that the folks selling MythTV based solutions which used the guide data, as well as possible other commercial uses (the was no…
(I had some spare time while waiting for the kids to finish their breakfast, so this is posted earlier than I planned). As mentioned briefly earlier today MythTVnews.com is reporting that Tribune Media Services (TMS) is turning off their free guide data service for MythTV on 1 September 2007. This is mainly because of claims of abuse -- the theory on the MythTV users mailing list is that this abuse is vendors selling pre-configured MythTV systems for profit, which use the not-for-commercial-use guide data service from Zap2IT. The announcement from TMS reads: IMPORTANT MESSAGE: For several years we have offered a free TV listings service to hobbyists for their own personal, noncommercial use. In October of 2004 we posted here an open letter saying the future of Zap2it Labs was at risk because of certain growing misuses of the Zap2it Labs data. Unfortunately this misuse has continued and grown. These misuses, combined with other business factors have led to the decision to discontinue Zap2it Labs effective September 1, 2007. We thank those users who have honoured the terms of the agreement, and we suggest you consider the many TV listings options offered by the commercial licensees of TMS TV listings…
MythTVnews.com is reporting that Tribune Media Services (TMS), the providers of the Zap2IT guide data used by MythTV in the US, will turn that guide data off on 1 September 2007. I haven't had a lot of time to look into this further, mainly because I am giving a talk this morning. I'll have a better look at lunch time (PDT) and write some more about this. I think there's no need for panic, as a new guide data source will be found, but this is unexpected.