[mythtv-users] OT Any interest in HDMI --> IP TV x264 encoder boxes?

Joseph Fry joe at thefrys.com
Tue Aug 16 19:15:33 UTC 2016


On Tue, Aug 16, 2016 at 11:24 AM Simon Hobson <linux at thehobsons.co.uk>
wrote:

> Joseph Fry <joe at thefrys.com> wrote:
>
> > Simon Hobson <linux at thehobsons.co.uk> wrote:
>
>
> >  I was following this thread to see where it would go and I have to
> agree that your "implied threat" did kinda take this from benign to
> something that puts the community at risk.
> > ...
> > Your assertion that simply shipping the device overseas some how was
> criminal activity is, first inaccurate, and second was counter productive
> as you potentially opened this list to liability,...
>
> Wrong attribution - that wasn't me.
> I was responding to the response to that original suggestion.
>

My apologies... it was really several folks who turned this thread from a
perfectly reasonable discussion of perfectly legal devices into a
discussion of how said devices MAY be used to do illegal things, and as
such we should not discuss them here.

And you only have to look at the problems DVD Jon had to realise the sort
> of hassles "the meeja industry" can create even when they (should) know
> that the genie is well and truly out of the bottle and there's absolutely
> no chance of getting it back in.
>
> Yes, DMCA is a farce, it's bad law, but it is for now (and for a good time
> to come I think) the law in the US. And ti *CAN* cause serious problems for
> the "MythTV community" if people go too far over the line.
>

The fact is, that there is a ton of perfectly legal software and hardware
that can be used to violate the DMCA.  The technology is not illegal.
However using it for that purpose is illegal, and that is the discussion
that is not allowed on this list.

These devices, as far as I am aware, are perfectly safe to own and import
from overseas... there are similar devices for sale from US vendors, some
even more capable.  There are any number of perfectly legal reasons to use
one of these:
 - This plus a cheap ATSC tuner box (free a few years ago in the US), would
serve a similar function of an HDHR, at lower cost.
 - Connected to a CCD DVR to allow you to monitor it from any computer or
phone in the house.
- Connected to a gaming console to record/stream your game play.
- Connected to a non-HDCP internet set-top box,

So the discussion of the DEVICE was perfectly legitimate, even discussion
of it's HDCP compatibility, as that is something you need to know depending
on your intended application.  This discussion only turned sour when
someone freaked out about it's potential unsavory applications.

We discuss a lot of hardware in this community.  Just because most of the
hardware we talk about could be used to store kiddie porn and drain old
ladies' bank accounts, while simultaneously ripping blue-rays and making it
available via torrent, doesn't make discussion of the hardware the least
bit "dangerous" to the MythTV community.

So please everyone, when a discussion is approaching the line... nudge it
back with a simple "please keep the discussion away from banned topics",
rather than using the phrase "HD(P str!pper" three times just to make sure
that anyone doing a google search on that topic finds this thread in the
archive... Brian's overreaction, and the ensuing discussion is what put the
community at risk, not the discussion of the device and it's features.
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