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A Brief FAQ on CableCards
TechNit writes "Just when I thought my Comcast DVR box was not going to change here comes the CableCard. Fascinating concept but I don't see these being used without the added features of Pay-Per-View, Video on Demand etc. that many consumers (me) have become used to. I see these being used more for authentication/theft prevention devices as apposed to stand-alone service providing devices. What do others know about this?" An earlier CNet column points out the shortcomings of current CableCard implementations.
The upcoming CableCard 2.0 standard will allow for bi-directional operations such as Pay Per View and On Demand. The current iteration isn't capable enough to make much of a splash, IMNSHO.
Some of my fellow TiVo users are disgruntled that TiVo doesn't support CableCard yet. From what I gather, they are waiting for the 2.0 standard (this is only rumor but it makes sense).
Neat technology, but not feature rich enough yet.
How long until hacked versions show up on eBay??
"Nature bats last..."
I know they will be useful for non-Cable company DVR's such as Tivo, MythTV, or MCE, as they wouldn't have to use IR-transmitters and such to change channels.
Anyone remember the boom of Satellite card programming? now they're going to enable a simple card to control our cable subscription too? awesome, time to go buy a new tv!
ok.. so heads you lose tails I win. right?
Tivo cable card box
While I'd love to get rid of the clunky set-top box my cable company forces me to use, as it's got no serial connection for the tivo... (they actually -ripped- the pins clear out of the db9 connector on the back), I think a lot of people are starting to get hooked on all of the two-way functionality that the cable companies are providing, so it'll be a while until these really see widespread adoption.
Most new TVs have slots for them.
They're good because you don't need them for premium and other scrabled digital channels. No on-demand or PPV until CableCard 2.0, though.
Personally, I think its a waste anyway. The only viable cable HD PVR solutions are part of the cable box anyway, so all a cable-card TV gets you is the ability to view the TV and not record it.
Is that cable providers could start supporting PC based hardware like the pcHDTV high-def video cards. Right now these things only really work with antennas because most cable companies scramble their channels and you need the decoder box to unscramble them. Well if you could plug a CableCard into a pcHDTV-like device then you'd be able to use it with your cable tv instead of just an antenna.
To summarize an engineer in the cable industry...
CableCard is somewhat a half-baked implementation right now.
Currently, it's only one way, so there is no support for two way device communication required for PPV, VOD, etc., and there is no guide, because there is no memory or provision for the EPG (Electronic Program Guide).
If the industry evolves the CableCard into a truly two way design, with memory and programmability and support for EPG, then it will be interesting. Additionally, an all digital set top costs providers about $70 in volume, while a CableCard is slightly more and has none of the features of the set top.
Really all CableCard is good for at this juncture is tuning/accessing encrypted digital channels directly with your television or monitor, WITHOUT a separate set top; if that's all you want/need, then it works fine. But what would be really nice is if some third-party PVRs or PCI TV cards for computers supported CableCard: then, you don't really care about the guide or some of the other functionality. You just want to be able to get at, and record, content that you can't otherwise get to without some convoluted IR blaster-type setup with an external set top, or being locked into your provider's choice of PVR, and its features (or lack thereof).
So much for the firewire ports on set-top boxes that let you connect a MythTV (or other roll-it-yourself PVR).
It looks very much like a PCMCIA card, but something tells me that none of the interface specs/protocol will be made public. God forbid consumers or third party companies deliver solutions.
Sounds like a way to keep only the "cool kids" from playing in the sandbox more than anything else.
Please help metamoderate.
I think a big potential use of CableCards, despite their limited two-way featurs now, is their inclusion in HTPCs- allowing for recording of digital cable without having to do weird things with IR Blaster and such. Sadly, the only implementation I have seen thus far was something Shuttle demoed at CES...
My analog pirate box still works great on the few remaining premium channels.
I gave up on "premium" cable TV years ago when I found out that the set-top box that decoded the scrambled channels couldn't be made to work with a programmed VCR.
With all of the other things-you-aren't-allowed-to-do-anymore goodies being loaded on ("broadcast flag," etc.) to TV with the mandated end-of-life for analog TV, the medium is becoming almost totally useless.
I do find I have a lot more time for sunsets, gardens, etc. now though.
Lacking <sarcasm> tags,
Why is it tat all new technologies are focused on three things: 1) preventing "theft" and 2) being cheaper to produce (with consumers pocketing *some* of the savings. 3) The fact that I would be paying for things I oppose (see below).
There's a reason that I have never wanted to get cable and this is it. The fight in the cable industry is not to bring better programing or features, or even to lower costs for us, but to reduce our ability to use (within our rights as well as without) the content provided.
Over the years Cable Companies and the "watchdogs" who are supposed to be supervising them (FCC) have been focusingmore on how to compel us to purchase new products (HDTV) than on how to safeguard our rights to use our cultural products. The cable companies have been spending lavishly on this from their profits. My purchasing of their products and services (like shopping at Wal Mart or purchasing Microsoft's products) supports their political agenda by filling their war chest. I suppose I could just donate to the EFF as well but that just ups the cost for me.
Yes I miss a few shows that are interesting, yes by shopping at more expensive (locally owned) stores I pay more for basic goods than I would at Wal Mart. But, when I factor in the cost of my freedoms, freedoms that are impacted adversely by supporiting the companies that I oppose, I find the skipping the movie, shopping locally, and using linux far far cheaper in the long run.
/. is yesterday's news today.
I agree with CNET's "Five reasons to not buy a CableCard".
t ml for an NGNA primer). The cable video industry is a bit peculiar to the computer and networking crowd because there is basically only proprietary systems. There are standards-based components and approaches, but by the time a whole system is built, Set Top Boxes are not interoperable across multiple systems. The the kicker: with mostly analog video on cable systems, usually almost all the bandwidth was tied up with programming. That left no available spectrum to introduce a different, competitive system. Once a vendor got into a city, the operator never changed over to a differerent vendor in that city, because the switching cost was too great.
There's a long and sordid history in the Cable Industry behind the CableCard. From the outside it seems like a fine idea, but none of the insiders wanted it, so it happened slowly. Now that it's here, it's obsolete as the version available now only supports 'one-way' video services, i.e., traditional broadcast TV. EPG, VOD, built-in PVR, and more interactive services, all require two-way communication, which is not in this version.
There are specs in CableLabs for the two-way version, but it's not clear if they're finished or even workable. And more likely the existing specs would be trumped by the industry's NGNA -- Next Generation Network Architecture effort (see http://www.cabledigitalnews.com/ngna/ngnaprimer.h
There's a chance this will change, due mostly to digital TV requiring less bandwidth, pent-up demand for new technology (VOD & PVR primarily), and the great success cable has had with DOCSIS-based Internet Access (they make a ton of money on it!) leading to some appreciation for open standards and interoperability. We'll see.
Imaging a Tivo with all the benifits of a DirecTivo (recording raw digial streams directly without having to convert) yet can move from cable provider to cable provider by simply changing access cards. No secondary set top box, no crappy IR interfaces to deal with.
Heck, imagine being able to watch a clear HD signal unmolested by crappy "free" set-top boxes taht are typically provided by the cable co's.
I'ts all about choice - and for once it's the consumers choice on what hardware to use instead of being forced to accept the cheap, low end Scientific American or Motorola crap that is foisted on us because it's given away "for free" by the cable co's.... right....
I'm still unclear if one cable card per setup will be of any benefit...
If I put a card in my TV, my VCR, which comes before the TV, won't be able to tune the channels, will it?
Maybe picture-in-picture will work, but what about all the other circumstances where you have multiple tuners? Watching one channel while recording another, etc....
500GB of disk, 5TB of transfer, $5.95/mo
Actual question on the site:
Does CableCard support Wi-Fi?
Not yet.
What the fuck? WiFi? I hate this notion that everything should have everything else in it. What possible purpose does WiFi serve in an authentication card? None.
Other possible questions:
Does CableCard support printing my favorite vacation photos?
Not yet.
Can I use CableCard like a CreditCard?
Not yet.
Can CableCard be exchanged for Wishes and Dreams?
No.
Can I write on CableCard with markers?
On Tuesdays.
But, what if I don't want my TV communicating with the cable company?
I really don't care for PPV and on-demand programming. I don't use them with my TiVo now; why would I want to use a CableCard in my TV that bypasses my recorders so I can only watch that content live?
And maybe I don't want them to be able to audit what I'm watching. And no, I don't like that they can do that with my cableboxes now. (Though they do get a skewed look about me based on what my TiVo records as suggestions.)
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
CableCards, even first generation ones, will be very useful for those of us with PC-based PVR's.
Example --
Challenge: Record cable high definition content onto your PC.
Current Solution: None yet, unless you want to use some hacky IEEE1394 software that works with some set-top-boxes, but not others.
CableCard Solution: High Definition CablCard-based PCI card. No STB needed, signal is received, decoded, and recorded within the computer. It's clean and simple.
If I could take my CableCard to a friends' house, snap it in, and watch the channels I subscribe to, or bill the PPV to my account -- then it would be something to write home about. I know I'd have to assume that either cable company is the same at my friend's house or has some sort of "roaming" agreement -- but don't I pay for cable -- not my house? And if I'm away from hoome...that cable subscription is basically useless.
The word is opposed, Mr. Submitter. My word, I hear her scream out, the English language is being tortured all across the Internet!
While CableCards in their current state have limitations in functionality, they also have some plusses:
1. Cheaper to rent than STBs. They are about 40% the cost of the STB.
2. Unified remote control. No separate remote for STB.
3. Better picture quality. Often your $4000 HDTV will have a much better tuner than what your $5/mo STB has. Plus there is no cable to run/degrade signals from the STB to the TV.
My TV has a card in it. plusses 1. Can tune to premium channels with the TV while I record another premiium channel with the cable company supplied DVR -- which has only one tuner in it. [sigh] 2. Swiches channels about 5x faster than the dvr box 3. cable company provides it for free if you have a box too. minuses 1. no two-way communication yet. So no ppv via cable card 2. with cable card in, you can't grab your neighbor's ppv feed (my cable company send ppv over QAM in the clear -- very educational as to where my neighbors' tastes lie.) 3. with card inserted, the PIP channel scanning feature seems to be gone.
Sure consumers will pocket some of the savings. Just like bypassing the middleman and dsitributing content on-line directly to your customers will allow publishers to pass some of that savings along to the customer (or maybe the companies will just pocket the savings... which sounds more likely to you?) They'll probably rent out the cards for $6.99 a month since they're newer and smaller than cable boxes, and yet effectively have all the same functionality.
And where it the outrage over traditional NTSC broadcasting being turned off at the end of the year?
...and in fact it will be *illegal* to run your old TV!!! Believe it!
Your portable TV, your regular TV with rabbit ears, and your radio that picks up the soap operas... are all going to quit working in a few months... forcing you to spend, what, $200 to be able to receive the new HDTV signals...
Where is the outrage? Or will it all happen when folks wake up and their TV's only show snow,
Its not in cable's interest to deploy CableCard technology. They'd rather you rent a $10/mo box forever instead of buying a CC-equiped device. Its a lost revenue stream. Even if they charge you $1/mo for the actual card (it still remains their property, you'll NEVER see a CableCard on e-bay since end-users are never allowed to buy one), you're losing a large amount of revenue in equipment rentals.
So what do they do?
As anyone with a CC equiped set know, they provide shitty service and support to cablecard customers. Staff I've talked to dont get informed. They have to search the web to go and find information on what TVs have difficulties and what to do about it to fix them. The software is still buggy, despite the FCC mandate that CableCard be operational on July 1 2004.
The Doormat
If you're not outraged, then you're not paying attention.
I just purchased the cheapest Toshiba rear projection HDTV out there -- the plain ol' 46H84 (???). It's a big-ass 46" rear projection HDTV monitor with just the right amount of inputs for the crap that I have. I paid just over $1000 for it to be delivered. Not the best price, but not ridiculous either, given that it replaced a 5-year old 27" Magnavox tube television.
So, I saw this News.com FAQ the other day, and I had a talk with my boss before Christmas about this CableCard crap and when the best time buy an HDTV will be. When I talked with my boss, I researched the CableCard ready Toshiba DLP projection HDTVs that are in their lineup. Pricing was higher than their entry level DLP projection HDTVs, and certainly a lot more than my dinky rear projection HDTV that I just bought.
Anyway, my conversation with my boss got me thinking...what happens when the CableCard slot shorts out or fails after the first year of warranty coverage? What happens if one of these new integrated card readers on some of these HDTVs stops reading SD cards from your camera?
My thinking is this -- you just paid $3000+ for a nice HDTV with CableCard a year ago. Now, if you didn't get sucked into a bullshit store service plan for $500 which might not cover a failed CableCard slot, you're stuck with a relatively new TV that has trouble getting digital cable or satellite services. Or you've got a TV that, 1-2 more years, will have this nice little HOLE in the front of the console for that SD card that it can't read, thus screwing up your pricing if you decide to sell it used.
I say stop the integration with the most expensive piece of hardware in my entertainment center. I'm not paying $3000 for a receiver or a DVD player. Those are relatively inexpensive items that I can replace in a pinch if need be. But a $3000 TV ought to be stable enough -- in terms of integrated features -- that it won't require replacement or a repair for something that can just as easily reside in a satellite or cable receiver in my A/V rack.
Not to mention the fact that, if I DO have a service plan that will fix it, I run the risk of sending off my nice $3000+ HDTV to someplace that may F--- it up in transit or during repairs, or, based on stories about Best Buy service plans, not come back for 3-4 months. The TV should stay put, and keeping it simple -- without all this extra crap built in -- is the safer bet, I say.
Or at least make it a modular add-on to the back of the TV that can be purchased for a reasonable price and, thus, replaced if broken at a reasonable price.
IronChefMorimoto
Tivo could really use CableCard support now.
I think a lot of people in the income group capable of buying Tivo are also Digital Cable subscribers, too. SA Tivos work fine with Digital Cable and the IR extenders, but it makes changing channels slow, its overly complicated and about once every month or so my cable box freezes/reboots, which puts it out of sync with the Tivo (power-cycling not being a function Tivo can do via IR).
Furthermore, this same group probably has HD TV, and CableCard would give Tivo the ability to do direct-to-disc recording of the stream ala DirecTivo, which would enable HD recording.
Plus it would give them a reason to rev the boxen in other ways (digital audio, etc) and sell more boxes.
Waiting for this is a huge mistake.
TiVo submitted a letter to the FCC this week suggesting that cable operators are not doing enough to promote the CableCARD and are not inclined to promote it, especially the more advanced cards which allow dual tuners. TiVo argues that it is not in the cable operators economic interest to promote them and that the cable companies are trying to completely control their access, guides and channels to the detriment of competitors like TiVo. http://thomashawk.com/2005/01/tivos-letter-to-fcc- and-will-microsoft.html
Home theater enthusiast care about quality and that is why it is actually a GOOD option to have. High end HDTV sets are selling with the slots right now because it allows the owner to bypass the set-top box which is usually NOT as capable as the scalars, decoder, etc. within the television. Not to mention taking one more piece of equipment out of the loop makes for a stronger, better signal. All this is highly noticeable when viewing SD analog content. If I spend thousands of dollars for my television why do I want to leave things like scaling to a set-top box from TimeWarner that costs less than 3 of the cables I purchased to connect my system????
Parent said '...you don't need them {cable cards} for premium and other scrabled channels.' First of all I assume you meant '...you DO need...' because other wise the statement makes no sense at all. Second the channels are not scrabled (what would that mean?) Also they are not scrambled. Digital channels like the CC is for are for encrypted channels, and the card provides the decryption.
Your last statment about the only viable option for and HD DVR is part of a cable box is correct. It should be noted that there are at least 3 models of HD DVR TV's, that are TVs with HD and cable card and hard drive recording. BUT they function much much worse than any tivo or cable company DVR, and worse than many computer or home brew DVRs.
Linux Works
My nearest PCMCIA slot is on the left side of my notebook. So, when do I finally get to watch TV on my laptop?
--Mike--
Parent is a bit over the top in wanting open protocols for third party companies. First of all the spec is public, as another person posted. So your point is N/A. Also, I would argue that all cable card sets are made by a third party. Party one cable Co. Party two card manufacture(there are currently to companies making the cards.) The 3rd party is any one of a half dozen diffent manufactures that make cable card ready equipment/TVs.
Linux Works
Parent complains about 'the set-top box that decoded the scrambled channels couldn't be made to work with a programmed VCR.' Not sure what kind of STB you have but all of mine can be set to tune to any show so that a connected VCR can record it at that time. They even include an idiot feature so that during that show if you happen to be home you CAN't change the channel or otherwise mess up the recording. With the remote anyway, you have to get up to fix it then you see the front of the box says REC for recording.
Linux Works
First, Built in DVRs do NOT require 2 way, there are at least 3 models now that 'work' with 1 way CC. I say work with quotes becuase the DVR funtions are VERY poorly implemnted in these TVs, but they do exist.
Second the 2 way spec is done/almost done and will be out vers soon.
Not sure what your talking about when you say vendor/operator/switching cost. please explain.
Digital TV does require more bandwidth, for whatever reason people want digital TV. You and I may not agree. Some want it because dish is 'all digital' there is a small difference in the picture quality.
Linux Works
If you are interested in specs, you might start by lookin here. It's as far as I have gotten so far. It looks as if they use a standard PCMCIA connector. http://www.opencable.com/downloads/specs/OC-SP-RPL CC-I01-040621.pdf/
Even if it is not broken, hack it anyway! You'll learn something in the process!!
Never will work. The card has to be bonded to the TV on the cable co end. That allows it to work at all. So to answer your post in one word, no.
Linux Works
December 2006 is the scheduled date for turning off analog signals.
The simple fact of the matter is that the vast majority of people in this country are using a set top box of some sort to receive programming. Whether it be cable or satellite or HDTV over the air, most people are not watching with rabbit ears anymore. It's too limiting. Analog TV was on the decline well before the digital broadcasting revolution got rolling along back in 1997.
And the last time I checked, April 2005 is the date by which *all* programming must be made available digitally. If you can't get a set top box to receive Digital TV in a year and a half, well, that's your loss, I figure.
Look, we need digital TV. We need the bandwidth that analog is using back in order to improve. Turning off analog is part of that process. So your old analog TV tuner won't work anymore. Deal with it and get a digital tuner.
- Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
The reason that they are not promoted by cable co. Is that the TV and card manufactures all released a product before they had it working correctly. The cable co has ZERO power over the manufactures. Despite what you want to think the cable people have nothing to do with the card working in the TV or not. The only thing they can do is make sure the signal is good to the back of the TV. Almost all problems are the fault of the TV manufacture. So watch where you place your blame.
Linux Works
What I would like to see is simply, a digital VCR.
That is a box with Tivo like features in terms of pausing live TV, but otherwise can act just like a VCR that happens to store recordings on the HD. I don't care about "season pass" style features, or at least could do without.
It would be nice not to have to pay a monthly fee for a guide service, and I have no need of PPV or VOD so really just being able to handily record TV (especially HDTV) without tapes is a high priority for me.
The HP "hub" sounded like it might be this, but perhaps a little complex...
What I'd really like to see is a CableCard adaptor that would plug into the FireWire port on the Mac Mini. That would perfectly fit the bill for a simple, compact PVR and would 100% meet my limited TV viewing needs.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Why should any company promote a product that is not ready for mass use? It is still a bleading edge product. Also the point of the cable card is to provide the level of control and access that the cable companies are required to have over certain content. So I suspect your statment about that is due to lack of info on your part.
Linux Works
... respect to many details. Take all info on this from http://www.hdtvexpert.com with a grain of salt.
Linux Works
Where did you get the 46h84 for anything close to $1000, delivered or otherwise?
Has it been over a year since you last donated to the Electronic Frontier Foundation
Best Buy -- they friggin' raise/lower the price every week, sometimes 2-3 times. The week before I bought it, it was listed at retail of $1399 on the BB website. $1499 or something higher in store. The week I bought it, it was still retail online, but it was $1098 before $40 delivery fee. This past weekend (2 weeks later), it was up to $1599 in the store.
The pricing fluctuations are NUTS!
IronChefMorimoto
OK, It's a CARD, right? A little rectangle that you can pull out of your TV and put in your shirt pocket.
Can I pull my cablecard out of my TV, go to a friends house (who has the Same cable provider, and a cablecard ready TV) and plug in my cable card so I can watch the Channels that *I* paid for?
I bet it wont work that easily, and that I would have to end up calling the cable support line each time. If that's the case, then WHY in gods name is the little bugger so portable? It doesn't need to be.
Anyway, my conversation with my boss got me thinking...what happens when the CableCard slot shorts out or fails after the first year of warranty coverage?
This is basically equivalent to, "What if the tuner on my TV craps out after the warranty runs out?" The answer is the same: Pay to get it fixed, or buy/rent a set-top box/tuner that sends it's signal to your TV via a video port. Only now you'll have a choice of set-top boxes: the one the cable company provides, or competing cable-card equipped set-top boxes.
Or at least make it a modular add-on to the back of the TV
That's exactly what the cable card is. And your fear of the cable card slot failing is one of the reasons that they don't do that very often. The connector for a modular add-on is far more likely to break than a solid state device. And if your modular add-on is, say, a memory card reader with physical connections being made and broken, that simply gives TWO highly likely points of failure instead of one.
Additionally, the cable card slot is not really meant to be used very often - how often do you change cable providers? - and the likelihood of failire is directly corrolated to how often you swap out the card. So that means the slot should not fail under normal use. The most frequent time of failure would be when the cable card is first installed, and this mostly happens when the set is brand new, and therefore still under warranty.
What? You want the cable company to know where you watch tv, as well as what and when? If you go to your friend's house and plug in the card, now the cable company knows who your friends are too...
Again, why should I pay more per month for that? That's why I like the CableCard concept that I can plug into other devices of my choosing. As the other poster noted, some are coming out.
Now, the real question is if Dish in any way supports the Cable Card concept.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
"Well, good luck finding a judge that doesn't run a bestiality site."
CableCard's first function--and arguably its most important--is to prevent people from stealing cable TV.
GREAT....
CableCard is meant to replace set-top boxes. But it does not yet replicate all set-top box functions.
FASCINATING.
You mean that as a joke, but with the way things are going, it actually could happen! It's like 1984, only 20 years later...
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
eom
"It's all about choice," my ASS! Don't you realize that the real choice is not between set-top boxes and cable cards, but between DRM and no encryption at all? Here's a clue: cable cards are an authentication mechanism. In these circumstances, an authentication mechanism -- any authentication mechanism -- is BAD!
Cable Cards provide a "choice" of TV hardware in the same way that the Communist Party in Russia provided a "choice" of politicians -- that is to say, no choice at all.
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Most of us dont want two way CableCARDs. We dont care for PPV, VOD, or goofly little cardgames. We just want our HDTV going right into our Tivo season passes. While those features are "ok", they do not make or break a product at this point. Cable DVRs are SO CRAPPY right now that Tivo really needs to capitalize in this market and get with the program.
European/PAL DVB systems use an encryption system based on CAMs(Conditional Access Module) and smartcards. A CAM is just a customized PCMCIA sheath around the specific smartcard. The smartcard is encrypted in such a way that the CAM must be able to decode it(so a cable company can randomly pick/upgrade the encryption standard). DVB systems are similar to HDTV systems in that there are unencrypted streams and encrypted streams.
Free to air channels can be received without the correct CAM/smartcard - just like current HDTV PCI cards in the US can get unencrypted broadcast HDTV. However, to decode encrypted signals, you must use your ID in the smartcard and unlock the streams using this.
The CAM around the smartcard is just a compact anti-smartcard cloning/hacking tool. The smartcard and usually your cable boxes MAC address are both used to authorize viewing(though MAC addresses can be faked just like regular ethernet).
For DVBs, decrypting/reading smartcard is all done in software. If the cablecard is just the same as DVB CAMs, then it should be able to add them to any current HDTV system with just software.
DVB stuff has well been hacked for PC integration (http://www.dvbshop.net), so maybe this can be the same.
The sad thing is that DVB is not HDTV. I have yet to see any real HDTV DVB systems.
In Singapore, Starhub digital cable is worse than analog because they use cheap decoders like in cheap DVD players (smoke effects artifact/drop frames). So we have dragging PAL frame rates and now this in exchange for slightly better signal. Well at least we have stereo out on the boxes(yes it isn't even freakin' Dolby). The switch to digital cable so far appears to be for making SMS/$.30 TV games and playing Tetris or Battleship on your TV. I am amazed how backwards the Singapore market is in some segments.
you have a VCR!?
TWC has been installing Cable Cards for several months, now, and I have seen what they think will help prevent "cracked cards"
To begin, there are no live versions of the cards for the techs to use to trouble shoot.
Second, the mac of the tv, and the mac of the CC are bound in the system. A CC will not work in any other tv, and that tv cannot use any other CC.
While it sounds like a good idea, in practice, this type of system has been less than effective.
Without going into great details, I would estimate 33% install failure in my area.
TWC's method of distribution precludes the ability to pinpoint illegal activity of digital cable equipment closer than a couple mile radius at this time. But the system of macs and databases, as well as equipment obscurity keeps most people browbeaten into staying legal.
Okay, I just read thru the GPL, and this looks like a loophole.
It does say that recipients of GPLed programs must also receive full source and any components, scripts, etc. necessary to build the program - so what I said is strictly true, TiVo users must be offered complete code for compiling their Linux kernel.
What I didn't exactly find was the part that explicitly says it must be possible to load that user-compiled program onto a suitable hardware platform.
So, GPL says I must be allowed to compile my exact TiVo linux kernel; but there need not be a way to RUN that kernel in my TiVo box?