The much heralded hack for the Apple TV, aTV Flash ($59.95) has been repealed and removed from sale. The company reported today on their website the following information:
--aTV Flash Temporarily Unavailable Date: Thursday 29 May, 2008
News Summary:
Due to questions arising regarding the fair use of a particular file present on the aTV Flash, and conflicting opinions as to whether or not it falls under the fair use category, we have VOLUNTARILY discontinued offering the aTV Flash at this time.
In our interpretation of the fair use doctrine, our software does not cross any lines, but since this is a grey area issue, we have taken a proactive approach and decided to seek clarifcation directly from the rights holder before we offer the product again.
We are working with them to resolve this, and will have updates posted here as they become available.
Those orders that have not been processed, will be canceled and refunded.
Sorry for this inconvenience.
Apple Core, LLC
I had personally ordered one of these just yesterday and received the cancellation notice today, however that notice came with little or no explanation until I contacted them.
The aTV Flash is a USB flash drive that self-installs software and codecs onto the Apple TV enhancing its functionality. The list includes software such as ATVFiles, Couch Surfer, nitoTV , Jaman Movies , MediaCloud, and Sapphire, along with codecs allowing users to play DivX, Xvid, FLV, AVI, various Windows Media formats, etc. Apple Core, LLC says that the key features, besides the added video and audio codecs, include the ability to play DVD files without conversion as well as the ability to use Safari, local weather, an RSS viewer, and SSH access. They advise that this is all accomplished without voiding your warranty.
Unfortunately unless you have one of these already your not going to get one until this issue is figured out and there is no idea how long that will take. In the meantime you might consider searching Google for websites with information on how to hack your ATV or build your own ATV USB stick hacking gadget if you are so inclined. Just remember to not blame me or Mac|Life if anything goes wrong!
Leave your reactions to this current situation below, or contact community blogger, David Martin.
UPDATE: It seems Apple Core LLC may have ran afoul of the creators of the software they were distributing on their flash drives. So while Apple may be gearing up the lawyers, independent developers may be upset with the company as well.
Apple Core LLC has updated their website:
--aTV Flash Unavailable Until Further Notice Date: Thursday 29 May, 2008
News Summary:
Due to questions arising regarding the fair use of a particular file present on the aTV Flash, and conflicting opinions as to whether or not it falls under the fair use category, we have VOLUNTARILY discontinued offering the aTV Flash at this time.
In our interpretation of the fair use doctrine, our software does not cross any lines, but since this is a grey area issue, we have taken a proactive approach and decided to seek clarifcation directly from the rights holder before we offer the product again.
We are working with them to resolve this, and will have updates posted here as they become available.
Current orders have been canceled and refunded.
Sorry for this inconvenience.
Apple Core, LLC
