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Is The Public Stuck With The Broadcast Flag?

peeping_Thomist writes "The only company that sells HDTV tuner cards for Linux has run out of cards to sell, and they are now missing deadlines for new getting new cards. Linux users who want to view and record HDTV face an uphill battle. Meanwhile, the dreaded July 1, 2005 deadline for manufacturing DRM-free HDTV tuners is fast approaching. MythTV supports HDTV tuner cards, but so far no one has made a move to, as the EFF puts it, "buy, build, and sell fully-capable, non-flag-compliant HDTV receivers" prior to the July 1 deadline. The current combination of MythTV and pcHDTV (assuming pcHDTV cards become available again) may, as the EFF says, be "great for geeks," but it is a far cry from the TIVO-esque simplicity a mass market demands. Unless someone can get bring a DRM-free hdtv recorder to market before the deadline, it seems the general public will have no chance to avoid the broadcast flag."

2 of 302 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Linux-only company by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    about your .sig - that's just retardedness. there's a better version of the same "proof" that hides the stupidity much better.

  2. mod 0p by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    serves to reinfOrce future. Even people playing can