[mythtv-users] Partial and No Locks

Simon Hobson linux at thehobsons.co.uk
Fri Jan 2 07:57:04 UTC 2009


jr wrote:

>At the moment, I do not have a digital cable plan.  I am supposedly
>all analog and was surprised to see all the digital goodness show up.
>That makes me curious as to what is actually coming in.

Don't forget that cable is a shared medium - you don't just get a 
cable with the channels you've subscribed to, you get a cable with 
(as a very minimum) every channel that any subscriber on your shared 
network gets. In practice, I expect that every cable carries all the 
channels the company provides and their set-top box is programmed 
(remotely) to control which channels you are allowed to select. In 
this respect, it is very similar to broadcast pay TV - whether 
terrestrial or satellite.

Since the cable company provides the box, it will be built to their 
specs and may well not have a decoder card that is removable. 
Remember that the relationship between you and your cable company is 
not for them to make your life easier, it is for them to get as rich 
as possible by giving you as little as possible and charging as much 
as they can get away with for as many 'extras' as they can.
-- 
Simon Hobson

Visit http://www.magpiesnestpublishing.co.uk/ for books by acclaimed
author Gladys Hobson. Novels - poetry - short stories - ideal as
Christmas stocking fillers. Some available as e-books.


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