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Getting An MPEG-2 Stream From Digital Cable?
Alex Perez asks: "I recently moved to an area where AT&T was offering digital cable. I've subscribed to the service and I love it, but I want to find a way to get the MPEG-2 digital video (and some sort of audio) stream out of the decoder (It's a Motorola set-top box) and ultimately into my PC as an MPEG-2 stream so I can record shows in true digital. Technically, I know it's possible. Is this legal for personal use? I can make video tapes of my favorite shows, but the quality is unacceptable in my opinion. What are my options, here? Has anybody else attempted to do this? I'd love to find a way to get a digital video and audio stream, but I don't want to re-invent the wheel."
Two things. First, as far as I'm concerned the DMCA and UCITA are basically irrelevant with regard to any decision I make. I should haven't to expound to Slashdot about what a farce both those laws are, so suffice it to say that at least in my opinion he has moral authority, if not an obligation, to violate those laws as necessary. Second, and related to that, it's only illegal if you get caught. Which he won't.
I think there is a world market for maybe five personal web logs.
I am not saying these laws are right, just, morally or ethically sound - heck, IMHO, they are not even Constitutional.
You are right that it will only "become" illegal if he (or others) get caught. Attempting to do it is one thing, though - most likely he won't be "caught" if he is attempting to do such a thing (as long as he doesn't brag to wide/far about it, lest some upright tightwad decides to turn him in for the moral fiber of the country). However, if he succeeds (or if another succeeds), and he publishes how he did it, via an easily tracked source, the hammer will come down, and hard.
Jon Johannsen (sp?) should have had nothing to fear, since he wasn't even an American citizen - however, even he still had at least a little bit of fear put into him when he was taken down to the station for questioning (even though in the end he wasn't charged with anything). If you are an American doing this, you had better release the "how" portion as anonymous as possible lest retribution come your way...
That being said, let me state that I am all for this kind of hacking. Fair use gives us all the right we need, regardless of the UCITA or DMCA...
I support the EFF - do you?
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
One may think that being able to record the output of the box, in it's full digital format, would be upheld by the time-shifting ruling of VCRs, but...
Thanks to the DMCA (and possibly the UCITA), your agreement with the cable company may very well say that "decrypting" the MPEG output stream is a violation of your contract (aka, EULA). In fact, as devices such as the TIVO become more popular (or even integrated into the set-top box - I have COX digital cable, and under the "setup" mode of the box, one of the pages list the ability to have a hard drive attached), I can imagine that it might even disallow "recording" at the distributor's (like HBO) whim, based on signals embedded in the programming.
Unfortunately, no one is going to care until it is too late (probably, American society will wake up when it finds out it isn't allowed to record the next Superbowl because of NFL licensing restrictions)...
I support the EFF - do you?
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
I had digital cable from AT&T for a few months. I quit subscribing to the digital channels because all the channels with a number less than 100 were delivered to my set as the same analog signal regardless of if I was paying for the extra digital channels and settop box or not. At least in my area, none of the local channels, the discovery channel, TLC, history channel, cartoon network, anything that I'd actually watch, are delivered in digital signals. Only the movie channels and the really weird special interest channels come in digital. This kind of confused me. Why would they deliver the channels where most of the programming came from a camcorder in some guy's basement with dolby digital surround sound and DVD quality picture? Why why why? Why doesn't my local Fox station broadcast in stereo? I want my surround sound during the Simpsons!
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I don't want free as in beer. I just want free beer.
The supreme court has ruled that time shifting broadcast television is perfectly legal. I don't see how this could be construed as anything other than time shifting, so legally you should be safe. IANAL.
Now there's just the whole technical problem. I imagine that there's a whole lotta reverse engineering required to pull an MPEG stream out of your coax, so good luck.
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Why can't I moderate something "Wrong" or at least "Grossly Misinformed"?
Have you looked at the Hauppauge WinTV-D card?
http://www.hauppauge.com/html/products.htm
It looks like it will do what you want.
I have used one of their old PCI WinTV cards for a couple of years, and I really like it.
And No, I don't work for them.
-Joe