Mark Evans did an interesting post [trackback] on his blog last week about the usefulness of Slingbox. In the example he cites, his fellow Mesher, Stuart MacDonald, used his Slingbox to watch a world cup match while traveling on the train from Toronto to Ottawa. A great way to Sling.
I joined the ranks of the 'Slingers' this past weekend. After a bit of a struggle with my way-too-complex home network, my Slingbox was up and running -- and I am impressed. This is one cool tool! It allows you to control and view your home TV signal on the road (or the train, or, someday, the plane) -- in short, anywhere you have a high-speed internet connection (including a properly-equipped cell phone). If you've got a DVR, that content is available for playback in addition to the live TV streams.
Used as described above, I suspect that this probably constitutes legal (and fair) usage. But the technology doesn't limit the usage of the Slingplayer software to the person who owns the box. The content can be shared with others (albeit, only one viewer at a time -- and is this really a technical limitation or an implementation choice?).
So, what possibilities does this open up? Well, for starters, the usage that jumps out immediately at me is to circumvent localized blackouts. Suppose -- and I'm just making up an example here so please don't take me to task if the specifics of the example are wrong -- the Edmonton Eskimos impose a local blackout on their home games that affects the Edmonton television viewer, making the game unavailable on television in that market but not, let's say, in Calgary. The answer to the problem: find a friend in Calgary who has a Slingbox and will let you use their signal. From a technology point of view, there's nothing to stop that. However, and this is where it gets interesting, this usage i) makes available content to the end user (the 'Slingee'?) for which the sender (the Slinger) has effectively paid only a personal-use license (assuming they acquire the content from cable or satellite), and ii) undermines the intent of the blackout, which is to fill the seats at the stadium in order to support the economic viability of the blacked-out franchise.
Or... what if I pay my cable company for premium programming (for example, movie channels) but decide to share them with a friend who doesn't?
Going a step beyond that, what if I want to watch HBO here in Canada? Our BDUs (Broadcast Distribution Undertakings) have not been allowed to include HBO in their lineups. But... if I have a friend and Slinger in the U.S., I can make arrangements with them to allow me to tune in to their HBO broadcasts. Is this illegal activity on the part of the Slinger? The Slingee?
In all of these scenarios, the Slinger becomes a distributor of content -- effectively, performing the role of a BDU. In these examples, is the Slinger violating i) copyright laws, and ii) federal telecommunications law (in the latter example, arguably, in both the U.S. and Canada)?
Let's go one step further... what if the Slinger in these examples is not a friend at all but someone who is charging me a fee for the service? Perhaps the receiving party (Slingee) bought the 'rights' (and I use that term very loosely) to use the Sling signal in an auction on eBay? That this is now a commercial transaction further complicates matters. Or, perhaps, for a fee I acquire exclusive 7x24 access to a Sling signal. (Bear in mind that no TV is required on the transmitting end. A simple transmission setup might include just a set-top-box, a cable or satellite feed and a Slingbox. Therefore, it does not need to interfere with the TV watching of the owner of the Slingbox).
In essence, using the Slingbox technology, anyone can become a commercial rebroadcaster of content -- content for which they own no distribution rights.
The quality of the experience today is limited due to bandwidth, but it is obvious that with increased bandwidth this technology has the potential to ultimately deliver a full-quality, full-screen standard definition signal. Beyond that, double the available bandwidth 2 more times and you're in high-def land.
Will we see Slingbox farms popping up to commercially serve content from geography to geography? If BDUs do that, they need to pay retransmission rights to the original broadcaster. Will 'grey-market' rebroadcasting services emerge that operate cross-geography re-transmission services 'under the radar'? This usage would almost certainly be illegal, and trackable, but that doesn't mean someone won't give it a shot.
The cable/satellite company can't tell that you are connecting a Slingbox to their network. Your ISP can inspect the traffic you are sending out over the internet and identify it as a 'Slingcast' -- but they can't tell who's on the receiving end (is that you watching your Slingbox at a friend's house while you travel to California, or is it a complete stranger doing so and paying you for the service?).
Will ISPs use packet shaping to undermine the whole Slingbox concept if it gains sufficient traction that it impacts overall network performance? Will ISPs who have a vested interest in the preservation of traditional cable and satellite operations be even more inclined to do so?
Down the road, perhaps we'll see Slingboxes evolve into a peer-to-peer social network kind of thing, with search capabilities. Slingbox owners could publish what they're watching (the box itself certainly doesn't know) and seekers could find, connect, and share in the viewing experience. Of course, the remote viewer would be subject to whatever pausing, fast forwarding, etc. the Slinger is doing, but perhaps that's an acceptable constraint for free internet-based viewing.
All in all, certainly food for thought and something to keep an eye on.