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Ask HN: Is there a "VCR" app? I may want to release one
I'm a busy person who signed up for an online livestreaming event, which promises a lot of benefits etc. They have no replays, or might charge for them etc.
There are apps that can record my screen, or particular parts, or a window. What I am looking for is a "VCR" type app, that works like a VCR would 20 years ago. I may want to build one, for the Mac and Windows.
This app would do one thing: be ready to record on a schedule, from time X to time Y. It might use Apple's Automator for example, to navigate the browser to a specific URL, size it, open zoom, etc. before recording.
My questions are to the law-minded people here, from a legal and regulations point of view:
1. When it comes to "two-party consent" laws, isn't it totally legal in all 50 states to record livestreams that have been made public, or even livestreams that have been made accessible to a large number of people? How about in Europe, countries in Oceania, Asia, etc.
2. When it comes to "copyright" laws, thanks to court cases involving the VCR, isn't it also legal to record a copy of a transmission for yourself? Whether you redistribute it or not is up to you and your local case, we wouldn't be providing or encouraging this functionality in the app, only saving a file.
- toomuchtodo 2y agoInterested in purchasing if you get legal advice (something like an attorney opinion letter) that clears this for personal use assuming no redistributon of captured data.
- EGreg 2y agoPurchasing as in buying / taking over the app, or paying for a personal copy?
- toomuchtodo 2y agoI’ll email you. Was interested in buying a personal copy or subscription, but open to other ideas depending on where you want to take it.
- EGreg 2y agoSounds good. You can find my email in my profile.
- pestatije 2y agoVCR - videocassette recorder
- jfengel 2y agoRegardless of the laws, you may not be able to do it at all. Apps can disable screen capturing. Try taking a screen capture of YouTube, for example. I'm sure some events will fail to prevent you, but anybody who really cares about selling replays will presumably prevent recording. You can jailbreak the phone, but most users won't do that.