[mythtv-users] Cablecard spec change undermining CCI Copy Freely flags

[Ronald Frazier]

On Fri, Aug 22, 2014 at 11:50 AM, Gary Buhrmaster <gary.buhrmaster at gmail.com
> wrote:

> According to a post on the SD forums, SD is in the process
> of requesting some "guidance"/"clarification"/"changes" from
> CableLabs regarding the issues/problems raised due to the
> Cisco firmware changes.  Details of the request were not
> provided.  Maybe requests from both Ceton and SD will
> gain some traction.  Or not.
>

I'm not sure if it was the same post I was looking at, but someone at SD
did say in their forums that they already made such a request to CableLabs
and was denied, but they are making the request again in a different way to
hope they get a different decision.


In this case, it
> is probable that this change was an unintended side effect
> of the firmware upgrade, because WOW, too, were unaware
> of the impacts (although one would think the change was
> known and documented in the billion pages of the release
> notes; Lesson learned:  Read (and understand) those
> release notes in the next cycle of upgrades).   [For the tin
> foil hat crowd, this could be a test to see how many complain
> before changing the rules more generally.  Exactly how much
> money did WOW get to perform this test on their customers?
> Their denials simply confirm that they are part of the greater
> conspiracy >:)]


I doubt it was anything like the latter. I'm sure it was just a matter of a
newer firmware that fixed some bugs for their widely used whole home DVR,
and not realizing it was going to hurt a very small minority of users.

As an update, the WOW video engineers and Ceton guys are already getting in
touch to see what they can do about this issue. Hopefully something can
come of this. However, from a specification point of view, I doubt there's
much Ceton can do short of ignoring the CGMS flags (which would be a
violation of the spec, even though SD appears to be doing the same). For
the cableLabs (un-changing the spec) and Cisco (un-implementing the change)
part , I suspect neither Ceton nor WOW has a whole lot of sway over their
decisions. As much as I dislike Comcast, I'd feel a bit better if Comcast
were using their size to push for a change on this matter. Another option
for WOW...I don't know if their system would allow it, but they could
override individual users who request it and supply them with older
versions of the firmware.

For now, I've just ordered a used HDHR Prime off Ebay. Gary, once I get it
and set it up (probably in a week or two) I'll get you the test samples you
were interested in.

-- 
Ron Frazier
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