[mythtv-users] cablecard

[dean collins]

I don't think it will be that restrictive to get access to the video
stream, lets face it they are going to allow tv set manufacturers get
access to it etc.
http://www.cablelabs.com/news/pr/2005/05_pr_ocap_010605.html 

The 2.0 specification is listed here
http://www.opencable.com/downloads/specs/OC-SP-CCIF2.0-IF-I01-050331.pdf


Cheers,
Dean



-----Original Message-----
From: mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org
[mailto:mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org] On Behalf Of Brad Templeton
Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2005 4:52 PM
To: David Shay; Discussion about mythtv
Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] cablecard

On Wed, Apr 06, 2005 at 02:36:33PM -0500, David Shay wrote:
> > dean collins wrote:
> > >  http://mythtv.info/moin.cgi/CableCard
> > >
> > > FCC have recently pushed back the deadline for Cablecard to the
1st of
> > > July 2007. Having said that the FCC have indicated both publicly
and
> > > privately that this date will be stuck to and not negotiable. In
> > > addition this date may be moved forward should the FCC feel that
the
> > > cable companies are being obtuse in bringing this about.
> > >
> > > The future of Myth TV will be greatly improved by a cablecard
> integration.
> > >
> > > If anyone is working on this please contact me as I may have some
> > > funding available for this specific development.
> > >
> > > Cheers, Dean
> 
> Until someone decides to make a PCI card with a Cablecard slot, I
can't see
> how this possibly "improves the future of MythTV".  The chances of
that
> happening seem slim to none in general, and almost certainly none once
the
> broadcast flag ruling is in place.  And yes, the broadcast flag still
has
> relevance to cable in some cases, as far as I understand it.


Actually, cablecard PCs are coming for use with Microsoft MCE.  However,
I have
not yet seen firm information on just how that is going to happen.

You aren't allowed to get the cablecard to give you decrypted video
unless
your system is "trusted" not to let those pesky users get at the data.

While Microsoft will make MCE act in this fashion in order to get
cablecard
certification, what's unknown is how secure they can actually make that
without
palladium/TCPA, and why they will get away with it without making it
secure.

The answer is probably "They're Microsoft."

It seems extremely unlikely Myth or any open source program would be
granted
access to the encryption keys you need to talk to the cablecard, since
Myth
can't stop its users from getting at the data -- you have the source,
after all.

It is possible that one might be able to reverse engineer the MCE
product and
take its keys, but this could be illegal.