[mythtv-users] OT: BBC HD DRM Discussion

[David Knight]

Hey all,

   Apologies if this has already been posted or if Nevali plans on
posting, the following has been taken from the BBC HD blog here -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2009/10/freeview_hd_copy_protection_a.html.
It appears the BBC aren't aware of the implications of their planned
actions.

#35. At 4:56pm on 05 Oct 2009, nevali wrote:
The problem is, for a device to be able to “tune” to the stream, it
requires the SI tables. These tables will be essentially encrypted, and
the key protected by non-disclosure agreement. Conceivably, you could
figure out what they are, and if this proposal goes ahead, enterprising
MythTV users probably will (and the likely outcome of this is receiving a
Cease & Desist letter from Freeview/BBC Free to View/etc. for publishing
trade secrets or somesuch). Of course, each individual user could
theoretically obtain a license from the DTG themselves, but this would
become unworkable extremely rapidly. It would also mean that STB
manufacturers making use of Linux DVB components may well not be able to
distribute their products because the NDA would conflict with the terms of
those components’ own licensing agreements.

Thus the answer to your final question is “watching BBC HD at all without
serious mucking about”.

The issue here is that the hardware itself—the tuner card—doesn’t really
care about the various individual streams carried on a channel, it’s down
to the software (be it commercial shrinkwrap software or something like
MythTV) to match stream A+B+C to BBC1, stream D+E+F to BBC2, and so forth.
This is what the SI tables do. Encrypt or obfuscate them, as is the
proposal here, and the software needs to a way to decode them. The same
deal applies to STBs, except that the hardware and software are bundled
together in the box itself.

In effect (and I appreciate you’re playing the messenger here), the
statement that “Yes you will be able to put a HD tuner into my Open Source
MythTV box and watch BBC HD, again if suitable tuners become available”
doesn’t actually add up.

# 36. At 5:11pm on 05 Oct 2009, nevali wrote:

Just to explain the licensing issue a little further:

Say you’re a developer, intending to produce a DVB-T2 STB compatible with
Freeview HD. You make use of Linux DVB components. In order to be
compatible, you sign the NDA and gain access to the obfuscation mechanism
so that you can make full use of the incoming HD streams.

Then you come to distribute your box, and you realise you can’t, because
the components that you used require distribution of the source code that
you made use of and this source code is now dependent upon the information
supplied under NDA by the DTG.

When Cory spoke of “[Freezing] out British entrepreneurs, such as the
manufacturers of the Promise TV, who produce video recorders that run on
open source software”, this is the situation he was talking about.


Regards

Dave K.