[mythtv-users] Switching away from comcast to online streams

[Stephen P. Villano]

On 1/27/14, 7:09 AM, Michael T. Dean wrote:
> On 01/26/2014 01:13 PM, CACook wrote:
>> Well I'm not asking permission.  I am paying for all my content, but
>> I am recording it as I please with the R5000-HD.  Let it be known
>> that this device is widely reviled by Myth devs for purely political
>> reasons, but I have single-handedly kept it running up to the latest
>> Myth nightlies.  However I have stopped trying to convince people,
>> and am just taking care of myself now.  Devs hate it for purely
>> emotional and political reasons, that's too bad. Their justification
>> is they are frightened that it may circumvent DMCA and they may get a
>> cease and desist... but this shows they don't understand it.
>
> No, devs hate it because it seems to be a direct violation of Dish
> network's Terms of Service.
>
> See
> http://www.dish.com/legal/
> and
> http://www.dish.com/downloads/legal/Residential-Agreement.pdf?WT.svl=video-plan-agreements-files
>
> (especially section 4.G. "You agree that you will not try to
> reverse-engineer, decompile or disassemble, /nor will you tamper with
> or modify, any software or hardware contained within any receiver of
> Smart Card. Such actions are strictly prohibited and may result in the
> termination of this Agreement, disconnection of your Services and/or
> legal action.")
>
> and #5 at
> http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Mailing_List_etiquette#Anything_else_I_should_be_aware_of.3F
>
An even simpler and more concerning item to consider, DMCA. That makes
doing such a thing not only a violation of the TOS of Dish networks, but
a violation of US federal law.
>
>>    An actual commercial company provided many years' support for the
>> R5000 (SageTV) and -never- got a cease and desist, because it does
>> -not- (Read: *NOT*) circumvent encryption nor provide free content.
>
> Right, but Terms of Service...
I'd rather violate eleven providers TOS than deal with the hassle of
violating federal law. The eleven could get me into a civil court, the
latter a criminal court.
>
>> I tried and tried to tell you guys for four years but nobody would
>> listen.  But at least I now have seven years of pure HD digital video
>> stored, compressed by Dish's $50k encoders and not
>> de/re-compressed...  just like God intended.
>
> And I won't even mention the fact that "fair use" in the US
> encompasses "time shifting", which does /not/ seem to include
> "archiving" or "librarying."  In other words, "time shifting" means
> recording a show for viewing at a later time that's more convenient
> for the viewer, but does not allow you to record a show to keep
> "indefinitely."  Oh, wait, did I just mention that?
>
> So please don't discuss the R-5000 on this list.
I disagree, save for the conditioned above. If one wishes to discuss
circumventing DRM, that most certainly does not belong on the list.
However, if one is simply trying to make the device work with MythTV in
a manner compliant with DRM, TOS of the providers and the law, should
that also be prohibited from the list (assuming that the requester being
a rational and sane individual)?
>
> Thanks,
> Mike
> _______________________________________________
Kind of a moot point though, the company has no sales page, few are
available for sale that I could find. Looks like a dead product.