[mythtv-users] Damn you Time Warner

[Michael T. Dean]

On 12/04/2007 05:55 PM, Kevin Bailey wrote:
> On Tue, Dec 04, 2007 at 11:51:16AM -0500, Michael T. Dean wrote:
>   
>> Myth does /not/ exist to circumvent copy protection mechanisms.  It
>> exists to serve as a great DVR.
>>
>> What you probably meant was, "I thought the Linux capture cards did not
>> understand the broadcast flag."  That's completely true.
>>     
> We obviously put together myth boxes for different reasons
> and there's no point in arguing differences of opinions.
>   

Regardless of your reason for putting together a MythTV box, the MythTV
project does /not/ exist to circumvent copy protection mechanisms and
the MythTV developers do not condone illegal circumvention of said
measures.  I'm pretty certain this is not an opinion.

> However, I will say that when you ignore the broadcast flag,
> you /are/ circumventing a copy protection mechanism.

Except I'm pretty certain the only streams that have the broadcast flag
in them happen to already be encrypted and Myth provides no capability
for decrypting them (and would have to be hacked to even record them). 
So, even if you do copy the encrypted streams, they're still completely
useless to you.

And, since the broadcast flag legislation was never passed, it is not a
copy protection mechanism.  Legislating that all devices must abide by
the flag would have made it a copy protection mechanism.  As things
stand now, it's just data in a stream whose meaning is only enforced by
the rebroadcaster (cable/satellite company) and its equipment (STB's).

Encryption is a copy protection (or, more accurately, a usage
protection) mechanism (which makes illegal copies useless).  Myth does
not circumvent encryption.

Mike