Locast is kaput, the party is officially over.....
rottdog32 opened this issue · 21 comments
Locast Nation
As a non-profit, Locast was designed from the very beginning to operate in accordance with the strict letter of the law, but in response to the court’s recent rulings, with which we respectfully disagree, we are hereby suspending operations, effective immediately.
Thank you.
Sad times. :-(
Broadcast companies and lobbyists once again get their way; and we the consumers suffer.
As someone that lives in an area that can't receive signals using an antenna, this really sucks! All I wanted was a simple way to watch local and national news for 60-mins each night.
Either way, thanks again @tgorgdotcom and everyone for all the hard work that went into locast2plex! We can only hope Locast finds a way back after this ruling.
That's sad. :( Wonder if the automatic reoccurring donations will be turned off on their end.......
That's sad. :( Wonder if the automatic reoccurring donations will be turned off on their end.......
I cancelled my subscription this morning just in case they didn't.
That's sad. :( Wonder if the automatic reoccurring donations will be turned off on their end.......
I cancelled my subscription this morning just in case they didn't.
Same.
Sad times indeed, I was hoping the big 4 deep pockets didn't taint the judges decision but obviously it did. The judge claims that 4.2 million collected in fees was too much too cover the operating expenses and stated that expansion plays no part in the collected fees according to his interpretation of the not for profit laws. If that's the case how are you suppose to expand out of even one DMA region once you have started not for profit operations. The big 4 stand to take in 15 billion in 2023 in retransmission fees. $4.2 million is just .26 % of the $15 billion they will charge. Makes me sick what they are getting away with. I'm hoping Locast can get past the ruling but the big 4 have way to much money to spend on this to squash whoever gets in their way.
Democracy Dies In Darkness.... "We are suspending operations, effective immediately".
Please tune your satellite dish channel to your preferred "news". Have a nice life. Winston Smith
@rottdog32 And to think given the chance, Locast could own up to 1% of this space. Oh, the horror. Also, the "judge" in the case is older than Rupert Murdock. Destroying the world, one old man at a time.
@Croq360 How do you cancel? i just discovered they suspended this. I guess I'll find out later if i get charged.
Nevermind, I found it.
And this really sucks that service is suspended..
Do you know if Locast2plex will work with any other type of DVR setting? Like can I use it as a DVR and bring up say comcast or any other services to use?
That's sad. :( Wonder if the automatic reoccurring donations will be turned off on their end.......
I cancelled my subscription this morning just in case they didn't.
Same. Sad day :(
I'll still leave this project starred since it was the only solution I had to working live TV where I live. I'm too far from the OTA stations in Dallas for a good signal for my HDHomeRun/Antenna setup.
@jwarner75 It is Locast specific python scripts. An option to continue the use of the Plex DVR functions is to purchase a SiliconDust HDHomeRun FLEX 4K and the annual $35 DVR Service. The DVR service enables the 14-day guide data download and you can use Plex DVR instead of HDHomeRun DVR. But this of course requires an OTA antenna. I live in a metro area (in a condo) where my indoor OTA antenna (attached to a ChannelMaster DVR+) is only about 80% reliable depending on slight adjustments based on current weather conditions. It's that 20% that is the issue when doing a recording. If that channel pixelates during recording.... guess what. For me, Locast solved the 80% issue of getting reliable recordings. At least with the HDHomeRun, it can be physically located in the best spot of your home for OTA reception (assuming an Ethernet connection or Ethernet->WIFI adapter).
Editorial comment: Why oh why in this age of technology, a 1-inch adjustment of an indoor OTA antenna magically fixes a particular station and messes up another. Really ? Rabbit ears, you bet !
I have 3 HDHomeRun boxes with 8 tuners and those are connected to two antennas. I do not buy the $35 DVR service; instead, I use TVHeadend to record programs. One antenna costs about $30 and is considered outdoor (60 mile range), but I have it in the attic. It's about 2ftx3ft and can reach the downtown broadcast stations which are around 35 miles away with over 90% signal quality and strength. I used Locast in case the antenna was having issues, so I was double recording some programs. I have been doing this for over a decade and has been doing well. Sad about Locast, but life goes on. Hopefully someone will fill in the void with the next streaming service.
Not to completely derail this thread, but...
Quite a while back, I forked from this project, and built a modular plugin based system to take various video streaming sources and output them to Plex/Emby/Jellyfin.
If anybody here is interested, checkout fHDHR. Keep in mind, it's a hobby project, and I can always use help building better documentation; however it's very flexible and fairly easy to learn to implement new "origin" sources of streaming video.
The TVheadend, NextPVR, and Locast origins were my usecases, and got the most love. There are other origin plugins that are mainly for demonstration purpose, but could easily be made great with some Pull Requests, such as the PlutoTV one.
I am not an attorney but I have read and have helped document disclosure on this case by adding documents via PACER to https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/15992337/american-broadcasting-companies-inc-v-goodfriend/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc
Since there is a new document today from the defendants, the case is still ongoing. I believe Locast suspended operations to avoid a potential contempt charge from the court. They may still prevail.
If anyone wants to read the court documents, go to the courtlistener link above, read the documents and make an informed analysis.
@jeffRoge Thanks for the information.
I was thinking it was JUST for Locast ONLY, I figured I'd ask anyway, cause when I loaded the DVR Function I had a few options like Comcast and a few others.
I do have a WinTV TV Tuner but it's not installed right now because i don't have an Antenna. I live about an Hour away maybe little more form Indianapolis, I'm north east from it, Locast give me channels from indy, the next broadcast is about 50 minutes away in Fort Wayne for me and 1 Station in Kokomo.
I eventually want to get an Antenna so I can Hook up to my Media/Plex Server cause i rather enjoyed the time and ability while Locast was up recording TV Shows to watch later,
I liked the fact of the older shows I grew up with like Alice, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Knight Rider etc.
Well. Shit.
That's sad. :( Wonder if the automatic reoccurring donations will be turned off on their end.......
I cancelled my subscription this morning just in case they didn't.
Same. Sad day :(
I just got a cancellation notice from Locast. It appears they are automatically cancelling all current accounts.
Edit: they cancelled my donations, not my account.
Since there is a new document today from the defendants, the case is still ongoing. I believe Locast suspended operations to avoid a potential contempt charge from the court. They may still prevail.
I am still able to login to my account. Figured I'd leave my donation active until it's final, for now. I've been with Locast 15 months, well worth what I paid. Hope they can turn this around.
Since there is a new document today from the defendants, the case is still ongoing. I believe Locast suspended operations to avoid a potential contempt charge from the court. They may still prevail.
I am still able to login to my account. Figured I'd leave my donation active until it's final, for now. I've been with Locast 15 months, well worth what I paid. Hope they can turn this around.
They cancelled my automated donations a few hours ago without any request from me. I imagine they’ll be doing that for everyone for the time being. Just my guess though.
I'm glad the big 4 can sleep tonight knowing they won't go hungry tomorrow...
"And that's the way it is, September 2nd, 2021"
"Good night and good luck"
Got my unsolicited cancellation notice in the mail. I hope Locast can turn this around, or do a "phoenix" maneuver as an entity or entities to more exactly follow the "rules" while providing rebroadcasting service. What's next, go after the antenna industry because TV antennas "steal" service away from highly profitable and over priced streaming services? Unbridled greed isn't clever, it's ugly.
