[mythtv-users] HDHR Prime and Premium/Protected Channels

Larry K lunchtimelarry at gmail.com
Tue Jan 14 21:53:56 UTC 2014


On Sun, Jan 12, 2014 at 9:43 PM, Gary Buhrmaster
<gary.buhrmaster at gmail.com>wrote:

> On Mon, Jan 13, 2014 at 2:11 AM, Larry K <lunchtimelarry at gmail.com> wrote:
> > I am on Comcast and I have not yet been able to get my HDHR Prime
> > w/CableCard to work with premium channels like HBO.  It works fine for
> cable
> > tier stuff like ESPN.  I just talked to a friend of mine who has his HDHR
> > Prime/CableCard working just fine with Verizon FiOS.  He is able to watch
> > HBO and similar channels.
> >
> > Is this strictly a function of the cable provider?  Does Comcast flag
> these
> > channels differently?  Or can I get this to work if I pester the Comcast
> > tech support long enough?  May have to switch to FiOS if this is a
> > non-starter with Comcast.
>
> Comcast (as many other providers) flag HBO (and the other "premiums")
> as "Copy Once".  Such content can only be recorded by solutions that
> implement/enforce the required DRM.  That, essentially, means Windows
> or TiVo, or the MSOs STB.
>
> I believe that at one time (before mid-2012) FIOS did not mark the premiums
> as "Copy Once", but I believe that FIOS now also marks them, so I do
> not think a switch will improve anything.
>

Given that the landscape changes over time, I was hoping that perhaps there
were new developments that now allow decryption of "Copy Once" channels
that I had somehow overlooked.  I then realized that this is not only a
function of the hardware (HDHR) and often affected by inconsistencies with
the provider, but also of the underlying software that uses it.

I do wonder, though, when the HDHR is asked to tune a premium channel like
HBO, how does it know what software is making the request?  I assume there
must be some sort of authentication to identify the requesting system.
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