[mythtv-users] Broadcom Hardware Decoder BCM970015

[Brian Wood]

On Tuesday, November 23, 2010 03:03:59 pm Matt Emmott wrote:

> 
> Dear Netflix,
> 
> There are DRM capabilities baked into that decoder. Could make
> DRM-based streaming on Linux a reality.
> 
> Love, Broadcom.



Hope they read it.

Given the way the industry works, I suspect there are other similar 
units with internal DRM capability, we just don't know about them 
because they are all hidden behind NDAs.

In fact, I wonder what caused the B'com unit to be known to the Open 
Source world.

Of course Linux would have to provide the "protected path" for the 
decrypted video that the studios all seem to demand, difficult to do with 
an Open system. We're not likely to see an Open Source implementation of 
HDCP, even though the master key is out in the wild anyway, the industry 
still plods along with CSS, in spite of it's being pretty much useless.

I suppose they could require any Linux system to use a particular video 
card that would "protect" the signal, perhaps by doing the decryption on 
the video card, which is not very likely either.

Assuming the goal is to prevent recording, even if they close the analog 
hole the game is still open to anyone with a pair of $100 bills.

The chase of the wild goose continues, and will probably continue to do 
so.