[mythtv-users] Network terminals, regulation, and regulation avoidance

jedi jedi at mishnet.org
Tue Sep 15 18:00:13 UTC 2009


On Mon, Sep 14, 2009 at 10:47:21PM -0400, Daniel Kristjansson wrote:
> On Mon, 2009-09-14 at 18:17 -0400, John Drescher wrote:
> > > What they need to do is to make a "Network Terminal" box.  This box would
> > > sit on the outside of your house (like the phone company) and connect to
> > > their network.  There would be a few connections off this box.  One would be
[deletia]
> 
> I'm not of the mind that the Cable companies should be regulated,
> in fact I think municipalities should just make their monopolies
> mostly irrelevant by planting fibers to the home and leasing them
> to all comers at or below cost, much the way city streets are
> handled. Then a number of information aggregators could compete
> for my business, just like multiple sellers compete for my business
> when I go buy my oranges and tomatoes via the city streets. But
> I'm of a libertarian bent, regulation would be better than the
> current state of affairs; if that is the only viable option,
> I'd go with the EFF plan, no encryption allowed on "standard cable"*

    My standard would be commercials.

    If the channel has commercials then it can't be encrypted. This
should also be the line that defines what can be freely retransmitted.

    Content with commercials should be considered "non-pay" content
and should be eligible for far less access control.

> and below (with "Network Terminals" to handle access control for
> more basic levels of service), but allow box requirement for
> premium content and allow encrypted outputs for super-premium
> content (like say Pay-Per-View programs that cost more than $50.)
> 
> * "Standard Cable" can be defined various ways, but a decent way
> is to group all the lowest priced packages until you hit a threshold
> of 80% of the subscriber base. That tier is "standard cable", any
> more costly packages are premium. This prevents the companies

     Use the classic way of doing this. If you don't have HBO and don't
want any pay-per-view channels then you should not be required to use
any sort of "box". Everything should be in the clear on the cable just
like the "good old days".

[deletia]

     


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