Hi all.

I searched " "internet tv" " (meaning that I put quotes in the search entry to isolate only instances where these two words were used together). I suspect the search engine didn't recognize the quotes because I got endless non specific results in all forums which I attribute to the likely common use of "tv".

So please, I beg, don't shut down my thread. I find the forums here are not categorized specifically enough to make it easy for a noob to filter through the lingo and volume of posts. Furthermore there is one thread on HTPC builds instead of dedicated forum. I recommend seeing BYOAC for a nicely organized forum for this sort of information... but I digress. This is not for commentary on the forums.

My Question is:
Can somone help me find out what terms I can use to search for a front end, guide or server software that will go out and harvest HD tv episodes from the networks who are putting this stuff online. I assume its legal since I can use a web browser to go view the episodes. What I would really like is guide like package very similar to beyond TV which I can search and schedule recordings, but from the internet instead of from my cable signal. If I can cancel my cable I will.

The problem that I have with searching, or filtering through threads that are 40 pages in length, is that I don't know the lingo. If someone can point me to a source - a noob faq on internet TV - I'd appreciate it.

I've been driven to forums like this for information becauase internet searches for IPTV (which I understand is somehow different from internet TV thanks to wikipedia), internet tv, htpc.... etc all get websited which I think of as advertisements for companies offering services to give you access to american or world tv for a fee... Some of my findings show that these are likely asian ventures illegally rebroadcasting satellite TV signals and charging, or small ventures doing their own advertising using otherwise freely available online content (which I would like to be able to find without paying a pirate).

Thanks for any help you can offer.

For my own record and for anyone else it may help. More information like this is a great start. I'll be looking. I'd appreciate anyone else who can post information like this. Legal issues are maybe for another discussion.

http://torrentfreak.com/how-to-make-a-custom-tv-torrent-feed/

So, basically the answer is that here in Canada you're not going to find much. Most of the popular services are blocked from us, and the Canadian equivalents are pretty sucky and/or not popular enough to warrant inclusion in the IPTV apps.

If you're in the US (or have a VPN service that makes you look like you're in the US) then there are several good options:
- Hulu desktop
- TunerFreeMCE
- Boxee

Is that what all of these online businesses are offering then? Just a US VPN service?

And what is the legal mumbo jumbo on tv episodes from torrents?

Many HTPC and multimedia software programs have services built in or add-ons for popular TV services. Going directly to TV network and specialty station sites is one way to find programming. Typing specific program names is probably the best way to do a general search. Sites like TV.com (great site for TV program info) also provide direct links to broadcaster streams from their program information pages.