[mythtv-users] Ceton infiniTV 6tuner devicesannounced(PCIeand Ethernet)

[Raymond Wagner]

On 6/8/2013 10:05 AM, William Korb wrote:
> Perhaps this has been already beaten to death in the past, but is it simply
> not possible for Myth to be modified to adhere to the DRM rules such that
> users like myself? Charter is pretty tight with their "Copy Free" channels - I
> can't even record AMC HD "The Walking Dead" which is a real bummer! Or is this
> just the usual paranoia about OSS that if they make it possible for Myth to
> deal with DRM that people will find a way to circumvent it since they have
> source code access?

With encryption, you have two trusted endpoints operating securely to 
keep a third party out. If either of those endpoints can be modified by 
that third party, they can no longer be trusted, and the system is no 
longer secure.

With encryption, the endpoints are the server and the user. With DRM, 
the endpoints are the server and the client's software, and the client 
themselves is that third party. Thus, the client's software must be 
protected from modification by the client, lest the software become 
compromised and the system be rendered insecure.

DRM requires all pieces of software in the chain, after the point of 
decryption, be distributed as binaries, cryptographically signed so each 
piece can determine the others it is communicating with have not been 
modified. It does not explicitly prevent the use of open source 
software, but when the user cannot made functional modifications to 
their own source, instead requiring those changes get pushed back 
upstream, analyzed, compiled, signed, and pushed back out as a binary, 
there is no longer any value to open source software.

Traditional conditional access systems prevent users from stealing 
content they have not purchased. DRM systems prevent customers from 
using purchased content in a manner of their choosing, limiting use to 
only those ways the distributor has seen fit, allowing the distributor 
to make more ways available at further cost should they determine the 
market supports it. Make no mistake about it, DRM does not exist to 
prevent piracy, it exists to circumvent fair use and protect a 
distributor's market, allowing a continued revenue stream as opposed to 
a single initial purchase.