[mythtv-users] Encrypted HD channels

Brian Wood beww at beww.org
Thu Jan 4 19:03:03 UTC 2007


On Jan 4, 2007, at 11:25 AM, Greg Woods wrote:

> On Thu, 2007-01-04 at 11:05 -0700, Brian Wood wrote:
>
>> Actually it looks like I'm getting TNT and Discovery in HD
>> unencrypted, and perhaps some more. I need to talk to the cable
>> company, as I think receiving those channels without paying is called
>> "stealing" :-)
>
> What do we call it when we pay for them but still can't receive them
> unencrypted? A "rip-off", I guess :-)  Of course they can point out
> correctly that the channels I paid for can be received just fine,
> provided I use their box, which only outputs those channels in HD via
> HDMI, which is useless to Myth. "We're the cable company. We don't  
> care.
> We don't have to" (yep, a repeated line but one of my all-time  
> favorites
> adapted from the 1960's phone company).

Remember the "We Say So" Company? (From "Dinosaurs").

  It's similar to what happened with the original "cable-ready" TV  
sets. Folks would pay extra for a "cable-ready" set and a (then over  
$1000) VCR with a tuner, then discover they couldn't use either one.

>
> I'm just wondering what is going to happen when everything goes  
> digital.
> My Myth box may totally disappear at that point as the Comcast- 
> supplied
> box will be necessary for virtually everything. Right now I can get
> almost all of the SD channels in analog via the PVR-500, but when
> everything goes digital, I will only be able to get whatever they put
> through unencrypted, probably just the over-the-air networks.


Myth Users will never constitute a large enough block to influence  
the cable companies, and I'm not sure I would want them to. Why do  
you think PVR cards are available so cheaply these days, Hauppauge  
knows they won't be able to sell them for long.


> Bah,
> humbug. I'll be driving an old air-cooled Beetle again.


Actually an old beetle in good condition is worth a lot of money  
these days :-) I wish I had one.


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