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FCC Allows Blocking of Set-Top Box Outputs

Posted by timothy on from the big-mama-deciding-which-kid-to-favor dept.

bth writes with this excerpt of an AP story as carried by Yahoo: "Federal regulators are endorsing Hollywood's efforts to let cable and satellite TV companies turn off output connections on the back of set-top boxes to prevent illegal copying of movies. ... In its decision Friday, the agency stressed that its waiver includes several important conditions, including limits on how long studios can use the blocking technology. The FCC said the technology cannot be used on a particular movie once it is out on DVD or Blu-ray, or after 90 days from the time it is first used on that movie, whichever comes first."

10 of 288 comments (clear)

  1. Saw it coming... rolled my own by bughunter · · Score: 2, Informative

    Tactics like this are exactly why I prefer systems like MythTV for windows and EyeTV for Mac. Heck, I can much more easily expand my storage space and install commercial skipping scripts with those, so I'll just roll my own PVR.

    For sources, you can get clear QAM service on most cable systems, including broadcast digital HDTV. And there's things like Boxee, Hulu, Miro and of course, bittorrent.

    --
    I can see the fnords!
  2. Re:PREDICTIONS ARE IN by The+MAZZTer · · Score: 2, Informative

    The idea is the signal is encrypted so it's a bit more complicated. Fortunately these guys have done all the dirty work for you if I understand this correctly.

  3. Re:PREDICTIONS ARE IN by andymadigan · · Score: 2, Informative

    Presumably the only remaining working output would be HDCP-encrypted HDMI output, that's what would be connected to the TV.

    --
    The right to protest the State is more sacred than the State.
  4. Re:PREDICTIONS ARE IN by gandhi_2 · · Score: 5, Informative

    MPAA considered harmful.

    --
    THL phish sticks
  5. Re:How about my 5 year old DLP set? by Pentium100 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Use this: http://www.hdfury.com/

  6. They won't turn them all off by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 4, Informative

    Just all the analogue ones. The media industry is convinced that HDMI with HDCP is completely uncrackable and thus what they need to go with. Output over HDMI only, and then nobody can capture your signal.

    Of course there's plenty of ways around that, HDCP is not particularly good encryption and has been broken in numerous ways. However they are convinced if they can just get everyone on it, things will be great.

    However that screws over anyone with an older display. If you have a display that was made before HDCP came in to play (or before they had digital inputs), you are SOL.

    So what will happen is pirates will simply get around it and distribute the content, legit consumers will get screwed. Same as always.

    1. Re:They won't turn them all off by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 2, Informative

      You don't need to do that. I haven't gone looking recently, but there were HDCP remover devices out there. More or less they acted as repeaters, the input side negotiates HDCP so the device is happy, but the output side doesn't check with the device it is hooked to.

      However, while those might be hard to locate because of the DCMA and all that garbage, you can simply convert it to analogue. The HDFury devices are quite popular with projector heads that have old equipment without HDMI. It takes HDMI, with HDCP, and converts it to VGA, 5-cable component, or 3-cable component. Take that and feed it in to a Blackmagic Intensity and there you go, HD capture solution. Now there's be a very tiny bit of quality loss since you are going digital/analogue/digital, but not much. Probably no more than the quality loss of decompressing an MPEG-2 stream and recompressing it to something else, which you'd be doing anyhow.

      While the setup I'm talking about isn't all that cheap. You are talking probalby $100-200 for the HDFury 3, and then another $200 for the Intensity. However that's all it takes.

      Also this is only necessary for broadcasts, ad with Blu-ray discs people simply crack the encryption and nab the original compressed data.

  7. Re:This seems absurd, did I get that correctly? by Pentium100 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Seems that there are devices that can decode HDCP to analog.

    HDfury3 specifications:

    Input: 2 x HDMI v1.3 (DVI 1.0 compatible) (Switch: Auto / PortA / PortB )
    Output: VGA FEMALE output connector, 10 bit analog resolution.
    Output format: Either RGB or YPbPr, dip-switch selectable
    HDCP supported (Integrated HDCP decipher engine, Pre-programmed HDCP key) ...

  8. "...to prevent illegal copying of movies." by John+Hasler · · Score: 2, Informative

    No. To prevent legal copying of movies. See Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc.

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    Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
  9. Re:Speaking of the MPAA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Careful, he's not far from Kennedy and there will probably lots of people watching.

                VALENTI, JACK JOSEPH
            1ST LT US ARMY
            WORLD WAR II
            DATE OF BIRTH: 09/05/1921
            DATE OF DEATH: 04/26/2007
            BURIED AT: SECTION 32 SITE 516
            ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

    http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/interactive_map/section30.html