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Cable, TV Makers Agree on Digital Standard

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the just-say-no-to-set-top-boxes dept.

shylock0 writes "Reuters has this article about the digital cable standard agreed upon today. Amazingly enough, it places little or no copyright restrictions on content -- and it even includes specification for 1394/FireWire output to PVRs. I think this is a victory for fair use. Let's hope the FCC approves."

3 of 154 comments (clear)

  1. Cripes... by shepd · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Why can't this half of the world simply copy what already works?

    DVB/S and DVB/T work very well for all other continents already. Why is it so hard to make it work for us here? Is it because of some sort of insatiable desire for HDTV that I've never actually seen?

    Oh well. At least things will get more standardized, which is good.

    --
    If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
  2. Re:cat got my toungue. by Sivar · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Great, so I don't have to pay for the box. I still have to pay for the service. More channels of little or no worthwhile content and a fancy menuing system (yes, nice, but worth triple the cost... no).You haven't used DirecTV, have you? It's have a menuing system since its inception, and their basic package is $22, +$6 for local channels. Cable prices vary, but here, that's pretty damn good compared.
    Additionally, all channels (not just the premium ones) are digital, using the international standard MPEG2 format (though of a lower bitrate than DVD). I have no idea what they use for HDTV broadcasts, though.
    Of course, I have neither it nor cable because I don't watch enough T.V.

    --
    Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. --E. W. Dijkstra
  3. Re:Sssshhhhhh! by Uruk · · Score: 5, Interesting

    No need to remind - they already know. If these specification didn't include draconian provisions for protecting the interests of copyright holders, it's more likely because corporations are sometimes slow to move and even slower to build consensus within an industry, not because they don't want to do it.

    When such a standard gets agreed upon, it's usually been in the pipeline for quite a long time. Companies rarely have the flexibility to say, "We've been working on this standard for (insert long time period here) but now we'd like to add 5 new requirements". It just don't work that way.

    --
    -- Truth goes out the door when rumor comes innuendo. -- Groucho Marx