[Sussex] Heres a Question. not linux but open source related.

[Jon Fautley]

nik butler wrote:
> I own a SKY+ Digibox ( the Pace version ) Up until September of this 
> Year it was working real well and no problems. Then Sky sent it its 
> Update and suddenly some key Features . Live Pause, Instand Rewind and 
> Recording are proving to be barely functional. I should say they work, 
> then dont, then do ... then dont and its quite random.

Fun fun fun :)

> Anyway speaking with Sky they agree the software upgrade caused an issue 
> in some customers boxes but dont agree its worth a refund on 
> subscription since your subscription does not cover the features just 
> the channels being available.

That's correct - the Sky subscription agreement is quite a read...

> Now I am thinking that I did not agree to the  EULA for this update and 
> whilst I agree to the Upgrades by virtue of the contract requiring the 
> phone line to be plugged in. I wonder if this is not a case of Computer 
> Vandalism , in some form ? Since my box was operational until they sent 
> it the patch at which point it broke.

1. You agreed to the EULA when you signed up for the subscription - the 
actual licensing terms of the software have not changed in this update.

2. Updates are not done via the telephone line - they're sent out over 
the air on a rotating 15-minute basis. If Sky release a new software 
upgrade, the system will automatically perform this upgrade at some time 
between 2 and 4am, if the system isn't being used.

> Sky have confirmed a patch is available but wont commit to the roll out 
> date or when I might recieve it.

Try a forced software upgrade - if they've confirmed it's available, it 
may already be on the air. Depends if they've set the 'force upgrade' 
flag on the firmware or not. Sometimes, they push beta code to the air 
before they tell the boxes to upgrade.

> There is a lot of talk about how complex a system it is and how tough 
> the code is to debug. At this I wonder why not just Open the Source code 
> for the box to the MyTHTV community since they might  benefit from fresh 
> eyes with wider experience of issues. There seems to me a good case for 
> this Code to be Open as its availability would not remove Skys income 
> potential. but thats another thread..

IIRC, it's not Sky's code. The software is written by some random 
company, running on VXWorks. At least it was in the original Sky boxes.

> So heres the Questions
> 
> 1 ] Is any one familiar with precedent or case ( in the UK ) where a 
> Company has been found guilty of releasing software or an update which 
> damages a consumer components functionality.

IANAL (Geoff? :) ), but I would imagine that Sky write their terms and 
conditions such that 'any extra features other than being able to watch 
TV are purely coincidental and do not bear any resembelence to any 
useful features, either living or dead'.

> 2] Should Sky realease the code ?

Would people know what to do with it if they did?

Jon
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