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Anonymous User
Not applicable

Latest update removing dev mode

Originally by JaBuzzard: (Post 1 page 49)

 

SeeMoreDigital wrote:
What???

A NOW TV branded box retails at just £15. 00. The Roku boxes cost signi��cantly more! Somebodies
taking a hit for the differences!

Yes Roku are not making a pro��t. There is a large difference between zero pro��t and a subsidy. The bill
of materials for a NowTV box is most likely well under £15, and my bet is most of the NowTV boxes sold
are not the £15 ones either , because wait a bit and you can get one with a pass for the same amount of
money or even less, to the point where people who never sideloaded anything have draw fulls of the
boxes, because even an offer of £20 for a box with a 3 month entertainment pass (and there have been
lots of better offers) is cheaper than buying three months of passes which would cost you £21 and you
get a spare remote too.

 

Originally by Wufflebonk: (Post 2 Page 49)

 

jabuzzard wrote:
SeeMoreDigital wrote:
What???

A NOW TV branded box retails at just £15. 00. The Roku boxes cost signi��cantly more!
Somebodies taking a hit for the differences!

Yes Roku are not making a pro��t. There is a large difference between zero pro��t and a subsidy. The
bill of materials for a NowTV box is most likely well under £15, and my bet is most of the NowTV
boxes sold are not the £15 ones either , because wait a bit and you can get one with a pass for the
same amount of money or even less, to the point where people who never sideloaded anything
have draw fulls of the boxes, because even an offer of £20 for a box with a 3 month entertainment
pass (and there have been lots of better offers) is cheaper than buying three months of passes
which would cost you £21 and you get a spare remote too.

I'll let you carry on with this one 🙂

I'm busy doing other things....

Besides I see @SeeMoreDigital and co have gotten out the vinyl's again... damn they must be so
scratched and broken now the amount of times they've been played. I think Violins are probably all but
worn out too...

 

Originally by ukbobboy:

 

@SeeMoreDigital

Hi again SMD

Unfortunately, your answer shows that you have made an assumption based on another assumption,
i.e. if a Roku 3 retail cost £70. 00 and a NowTV black box is £15. 00 then someone is loosing out
somewhere.

However , my experience is somewhat different, remember when video VHS recorder , way back when,
cost on average £400. 00 retail. Did you know that they only cost £71. 00 to manufacture, package and
ship from Japan to the UK, the additional costs were mainly just "mark-up", i.e. what the market will
bear .

Since retail economics has not changed since then, just the products sold, I would suggest you rethink
your "highly subsidised" mantra, unless you can prove otherwise.


UK Bob

 

Originally by 4268:

 

@ukbobboy have you considered that there is such a thing as a loss leader .

 

Originally by Eddie-M (NowTV Team):

 

Hi @Anonymous User


Thanks for raising your concerns to us here on the Community, In relation to what a Now TV agent has
said about Plex being illegal your correct it is not however the content available to use with in Plex and
other Apps like it can be seen as illegal and therefore puts Now TV in a difficult position with Studios
and Record companies and therefore the decision was made to remove the Dev Mode which enabled
the ability to install Plex via Sideloading due to Plex not being available in the Now TV app store. Also if
apps are being used via the Now T v box that are not available in the App store provided and are
installed by other means i.e Sideloading then Now TV have the right to remove that functionallity if we
wish to do so. If your complaint relates to official apps in the app store available via the Now TV box
then please do raise those concerns with us and we will do what we can can to rectify them. However if
it only relates to an app not offically available on the Now TV box then we cannot do anything further
and there would be no legal basis for us to put that function back as it is against our terms of use. I
hope this clears it up for you and if you have any further questions please do ask away and we will do
our best to answer or at least get the answer for you.


Thanks
Eddie

 

Originally by DessieB:

 

Hi Eddie,

I wonder if you could take a moment to explain how customers using Plex on a NOW TV box puts Now
TV in a difficult position with Studios and Record companies, but Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku
all provide Plex for their Streaming boxes and Google provide Plex for android TV boxes without this
putting them in a difficult position with Studios and Record companies?

Thanks
DessieB

 

Originally by Eddie-M (Official NowTV Team)

 

Hi @Anonymous User

This would come down to legal notices Now TV have received and therefore have had to remove the
fuction due to some Customers using Plex to watch Pirated Content. So the Dev Mode has been
disabled to prevent Pirated content in the future which in turn has disabled Plex which again can be
used to access Content which can be seen as illegal. This is the steps we found nessecerry to take to
prevent this from happening. If others have not done this then we cannot speak for them we feel this
was the best step to take.


Cheers

 

Originally by DessieB

 

Hi Eddie,

So are you suggesting that Apple, Amazon, Roku and Google have not received similar legal notices, or
that they have received similar notices but have chosen to ignore them?

DessieB

 

Originally by Eddie-M (Official NowTV Team):

 

No at all @Anonymous User


I'm not suggesting anything of the sort. I am telling you what Now TV have received and what we have
done to rectify it if other companies have recieved the same notices then i'm sure they are taking the
Steps nessecerry to rectify that however we at Now TV are not privy to that information and therefore
cannot discuss what other companies intend to do if anything or if they have recieved the same
notices we can only discuss what Now TV have recieved and what we have done to ��x it. At the end of
the day Plex is not an offical app in the App store via the Now TV box therefore Now TV have no
legal obligation to provide that app and therefore can remove any means of accessing it.


Cheers

 

Originally by MattPenfold:

 

Eddie-M wrote:
Hi @Anonymous User


Thanks for raising your concerns to us here on the Community, In relation to what a Now TV agent
has said about Plex being illegal your correct it is not however the content available to use with in
Plex and other Apps like it can be seen as illegal and therefore puts Now TV in a difficult position
with Studios and Record companies and therefore the decision was made to remove the Dev Mode
which enabled the ability to install Plex via Sideloading due to Plex not being available in the Now
TV app store. Also if apps are being used via the Now T v box that are not available in the App store
provided and are installed by other means i.e Sideloading then Now TV have the right to remove
that functionallity if we wish to do so. If your complaint relates to official apps in the app store
available via the Now TV box then please do raise those concerns with us and we will do what we
can can to rectify them. However if it only relates to an app not offically available on the Now TV box
then we cannot do anything further and there would be no legal basis for us to put that function
back as it is against our terms of use. I hope this clears it up for you and if you have any further
questions please do ask away and we will do our best to answer or at least get the answer for you.


Thanks
Eddie
So why was I told Plex is illegal Eddie? You admit is untrue, yet that did not stop your colleagues from
say Plex is illegal software. What do you intend to do about their lack of honesty?

You claim you have the right to remove side-loaded apps, but you failed to offer any evidence you have
that right. Since you offered no evidence I can dismiss your claim you have that rigjt as baseless. You
have a choice. You can either offer that evidence, or accept you lied to me.

 

Originally by MattPenfold: (Post 1 on page 50)

 

Eddie,
You have admitted that Not TV altered my box. The law, in the form of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 is
clear in this regard. Unless you can show Now TV were authorized to access my box and make
alterations NOW TV have committed a criminal offence under Section 35 of that act. It is possible that
Now TV could be considered to have committed an offence under Section 37 , if there was intend to
impair use of the computer . A Section 35 offence carries a maximum sentence of 2 years
imprisonment, and a Section 37 offence carries a maximum of 10 years. Both offences can also carry
an unlimited Ƭne.
So you can only claim that Now TV have not comitted an offence under either Section 35 or 37 if you
can show you had authorisation to access my Now TV box. If you cannot do so, you will be admitting
that NOW TV commited a criminal offence.

 

Originally by WuffleBonk: (Post 2 on page 50)

 

@Anonymous User from NowTV, I think there's an age old addidge here that relates to Digging holes and knowing
when to stop 😄

From what I can see, your just not doing ANYTHING to help here, except making up what looks like
semi plausible explanations and hoping that we'll all buy into it.

I have to tip my hat and give you points for trying though. As myself and my co-conspiritors have
recently discovered, we can actually use the official, authourized apps that ARE in the NowTV store,
and pre installed on the box, INCLUDING YOUR VERY OWN NOWTV APP , to play ANY CONTENT we
want, including pirated content should we so wish, I wonder what the recording industry and
music/movie producers that sent NowTV those cease and desist plex letters would do if they found out
about that fact???

I think you'd be forced to remove your own apps, and every official app from the box, IF what your
trying to spin to us all, is actually true....

 

 

 

 

 

188 REPLIES 188
4268
Legend 5
Legend 5

It has been removed. This is a decision by Now. However if you take the time to read the terms when you set up the box you will see it is against terms to do so. Now had been lenient in past.

Please take a moment to click thanks or marked as solution if this answered your question. I am a community contributor and pop on when I can.
Anonymous User
Not applicable

@4268 wrote:

It has been removed. This is a decision by Now. However if you take the time to read the terms when you set up the box you will see it is against terms to do so. Now had been lenient in past.


Where in the terms does it state that? 

4268
Legend 5
Legend 5
Apologies @Anonymous User I had important things to do like going to pub quiz. Try reading the ones on the box. Quote:On purchase, the Now Box becomes your property however the Software in the Now TV Box does not, as it is owned or licensed by Sky or other third parties. You must allow sky it's licences to update the software on the NOW TV box by sending signals to your NOW TV box. You must not tamper with the software in the NOW TV box authorise anybody else to do so" I am sure you can read the rest for yourself​.
Please take a moment to click thanks or marked as solution if this answered your question. I am a community contributor and pop on when I can.
4268
Legend 5
Legend 5
@Anonymous User bless your little cotton socks. The developer mode does effect the software. I do smile at your misguided passion
Please take a moment to click thanks or marked as solution if this answered your question. I am a community contributor and pop on when I can.
Anonymous User
Not applicable

@4268 wrote:
@Anonymous User bless your little cotton socks. The developer mode does effect the software. I do smile at your misguided passion

VERY, VERY, VERY incorrect.

 

Developer mode does NOT affect the software or it's operation in any way what so ever, it is a feature implemented by Roku, in thier Operating System software (Which by the way Sky/NowTV does NOT own... Roku do...) to allow developers who join thier software development program to test thier apps, in a safe environment so that nothing can damage the LIVE CHANNEL STORE or publically available applications/channels.

 

Like any feature in any software it is something that can be enabled and disabled simply by changing customizations and configuration options when Roku's operating system is customized by thier Clients (Sky/NowTV) for use in thier offerings to thier customers.

 

Next you'll be telling me the different features that automotive producers put in a cars on-board software to make thier brands better than others, impeads the ability to drive said vehicle.

 

oh and don't worry, matt may not be quite uptodate, but I sure as hell know what I'm talking about, beacuse Iv'e been doing software development for over 30 years now!!

 

Anonymous User
Not applicable

@4268 wrote:
@Anonymous User bless your little cotton socks. The developer mode does effect the software. I do smile at your misguided passion

Yes it does. Well spotted. 

Of course that it does has nothing to do with what authority Now TV used to update boxes. Since you cannot state what that authority is, despite your claiming you know they have it, your claim is dimissed on the grounds you have no evidence to support it and thus admit to lying about it. 

Your next step should be to apologise for your lack of intellectual honesty, but I doubt you will. 

 

Anonymous User
Not applicable

I would point out that tampering with the software is exactly what Now TV did. They have been unable to show they had authority to do so, and in the absence of such authority they would have been comitting a criminal offence under the Computer Missue Act. 

That the box was supplied by Now TV is inmaterial. Without express consent (a section in a long list of terms and conditions has been ruled not to be suffcient) it is not legal to alter a computer device. 

It is for this reason Microsoft must explicity ask you when you first setup a Windows computer whether you want updates to be done automatically. They cannot assume they can and remain with in the law in the UK.

Anonymous User
Not applicable

I would like to point out that accessing a hidden feature in software is NOT tampering. That would involve changing the source code and recompiling it. Nobody EXCEPT Now TV has done that!!!

 

Accessing hidden features has a long history and has never resulted in a prosecution because there's nothing illegal about it. Try Googling easter eggs to see what I mean.

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Virtually every piece of electronics these days has service modes, engineer modes, hidden menus etc that are accessed by a specific set of key presses. Heck even Sky boxes have those!!!

 

To say this makes them 'illegal' is absolute garbage. I would love to see a legal challenge against nowtv for removing the developer mode, because even with News Corp's deep pockets, I'd think they'd lose.....just like they are doing against BT.

Anonymous User
Not applicable

@Anonymous User wrote:

Virtually every piece of electronics these days has service modes, engineer modes, hidden menus etc that are accessed by a specific set of key presses. Heck even Sky boxes have those!!!

 

To say this makes them 'illegal' is absolute garbage. I would love to see a legal challenge against nowtv for removing the developer mode, because even with News Corp's deep pockets, I'd think they'd lose.....just like they are doing against BT.


Dev mode was not illegal to use. 4268 is just lying when he says it was.