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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."

14 of 288 comments (clear)

  1. PREDICTIONS ARE IN by deathcow · · Score: 5, Insightful

    1) pirates unaffected
    2) legit consumers annoyed and prevented from seeing their movie

    1. Re:PREDICTIONS ARE IN by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 5, Insightful

      1) pirates unaffected

      Its better than that. Pirates should be celebrating.
      What this means is that the MAFIAA thinks they can do day & date releases on Pay-Per-View and in the theaters.

      However, there will always be at least a handful of people with the means to capture such PPV transmissions and distribute copies on the net. So it means no more need for crappy camcorders in the theaters and the consequent risk of the recently legislated crazy-ass sentences for getting caught doing so. Now, the pirates can comfortably record new theatrical releases in the safety of their own homes and their hundreds of millions of friends on the net can all download new theatrical releases in HD-quality long before the movies are released on bluray.

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    2. Re:PREDICTIONS ARE IN by suomynonAyletamitlU · · Score: 4, Insightful

      (really, you could flatten this loop anywhere, but the only realistic place to break out of it is at step 4)

      The problem is that the only one of those things most execs give a flying damn about addressing is (1). If along with their new DRM they added amazing new capabilities--say creating a mobile device with apps and sleek form factor that plays your protected content anywhere, to address (2), or giving an online store to easily purchase content to fix (3)--then that wouldn't be half bad. Unless of course Apple does that, in which case fuck all.

      But seriously. I have an iTouch with some limited content on it, and will be upgrading to its bigger cousin when I have the money to spare. It does kind of bother me that I can't take my iTunes-bought video and put it on various devices--along with other objections--but the iPhone OS model, which is culminated in the iPad, is really an object lesson for people who think that suing is the only way to stop piracy.

      Yes, iPhones get hacked, and yes, they only operate with iTunes, and yes, apps and music are still stolen a lot in spite of their efforts. However, the biggest advantage they have over the *AAs is that they give you compelling reason to use their products. And hey guess what! The consumers love them for it.

      And no Apple bashing, please. This isn't comparing Apple to Linux, Microsoft, or Google. It's comparing them to RIAA/MPAA. I think we can all agree they're better than THEM.

    3. Re:PREDICTIONS ARE IN by Peach+Rings · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Why is it any more OK for Apple to lock down a handheld media device than it is for the MPAA to lock down your set-top-box?

    4. Re:PREDICTIONS ARE IN by GNUALMAFUERTE · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I know this has been pointed out before, and I am myself tired of repeating this, but it's necessary:

      1) It doesn't matter what encryption they use, the decryption key is on the device, so we'll get it eventally
      2) The signal travels a long way. They can encrypt as many miles as they want, and they can encrypt the last mile, but the last 3 meters (the 3 meters from your TV to your eyes) can't be encrypted. So, eventually, the signal will need to be decrypted and there, it is vulnerable.
      3) If they resort to putting mandatory DRM on your brain, and send the signal encrypted till it reaches your eyes, refer to 1) (the decryption key will be on your brain and we can get it).

      What baffles me is why we are still trying to find technical workarounds to a commercial issue. People want to produce content. People want to watch content. Companies want to make money by being the middle man. This middle man has done nothing but move group 1 further and further apart from group 2. But regardless of how much they try, they won't prevent people from producing content, and won't prevent people from wanting to watch that content. We will eventually realize the artificial limitation here, remove the middle man, and find a way to pay the producers and get our content without *AAs.

      To quote Megadeth: If there's a new way, I'll be the first in line, But it better work this time.

      So, while all of you keep fighting each other over this moot point, I will go over to megavideo to watch Flash Forward S01E19.

      --
      WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
    5. Re:PREDICTIONS ARE IN by Phoobarnvaz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      What people are forgetting about this is...we're in the middle of the deepest recession/depression in 70 years. My roommate has all ready dropped the cable...since all the bill seems to keep doing is heading up every time a cable/satellite exec farts or needs a new boy/girlfriend. As soon as my DTV contract is up at the end of the year...that's bye-bye as well. With more & more people doing the same thing...where are all these customers going to come from for the cable companies/MPAA to keep screwing over?

      If I find I'm still having trouble paying the rent this summer from not being able to find even a part-time job...will just break the contract. With rates increasing ever upward...don't need to worry about paying their salaries or my rent. Hulu...over-the-air TV & the network websites are just as good to get whatever TV fix I'm looking for.

      --
      Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia. - Charles M. Schulz
    6. Re:PREDICTIONS ARE IN by ktappe · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Why is it any more OK for Apple to lock down a handheld media device than it is for the MPAA to lock down your set-top-box?

      1) You do not have to buy an Apple; you can get other smartphones. But much of America has no choice but to get TV from their cable company. I cannot get FiOS where I live (been on waiting list for 4 years) and trees prevent me from having satellite. So I'm stuck with that set top box. You know, the box I shouldn't even have to have if Comcast were to use a STANDARD to encode their digital so that my Media Center could work without an IR blaster? That box right there.

      2) Apple is a vendor. Comcast is a vendor. The MPAA is not a vendor. You cannot choose to or not to purchase from them. They insidiously work behind the scenes on crap like this, whereas you know up front when buying an Apple that it's locked down. It's a minor but notable distinction from the point above.

      --
      "We can categorically state we have not released man-eating badgers into the area." - UK military spokesman, July 2007
    7. Re:PREDICTIONS ARE IN by Dutchmaan · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Why do people continue to insist that 'nothing' is a viable choice in the *marketplace*?

      My way or the highway does not constitute a market choice.

  2. Best DRM by TheMeuge · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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

    Good. Turning off ALL the outputs will certainly prevent those movies from being copied. I've always thought that such an approach will be the ultimately successful DRM the companies are looking for.

  3. Seriously? by Voyager529 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I mean not for nothing, but I don't think I've ever seen a movie being distributed on the internet that's been ripped from a cable box. There isn't even a Scene spec for it. By time movies hit Pay-Per-View, there's almost always a version of the film circulating the internet. Maybe somewhere, somehow, there's an exception, but the only piracy I could possibly see this deterring is Joe Sixpack using a set-top DVD recorder to lend to Frank Furter. Stopping piracy is one thing, but I'm wondering how much further this string of ridiculousness can go. Actually, that's probably a bad thing to wonder...

  4. Looks rather weak to me logically by Captain+Spam · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

    Wait, wait. What?

    So let me get this straight... once the movie is released on DVD or Blu-Ray, the technology is not allowed to be used on it? As in, this only (theoretically) affects... what, just the movies that hit PPV a week or so before they hit DVD/Blu-Ray? That's it?

    I mean, that's weak not just from a technological standpoint. That's weak the whole way around. Do people actually pirate movies off of PPV to any extent to make this even worthwhile? Do people actually USE PPV that much? I thought it was all DVD/Blu-Ray copies or leaked theatre reels or whatnot.

    Wow. That just seems... sad.

    --
    Demanding constant attention will only lead to attention.
  5. Re:Bad sign by KahabutDieDrake · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm not sure why you think the FCC is there to protect consumers. It's not. It exists to look out for business investments. The FCC in my lifetime has consistently sided with "big business" over private interests. This isn't exactly odd however. The FDA is similar in it's function, if not it's charter.

  6. Why stop with just outputs? by zymurgy_cat · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm surprised the MPAA hasn't asked for the ability to disable your friends' cars so they can't drive over to watch the movie at your house. That way, they'd have to pay to watch it at their houses. Obviously, for those without cars, they'd need a waiver to cap their knees so they can't walk, bike, or rollerskate over to your house. A waiver to jam sticks in wheelchair spokes should also be granted.

    --
    -- Fugacity: Confusing chemists since 1908
  7. In related news... by tlambert · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.

    In related news... the Copyright Act of 1790 granted copyright for a term of "fourteen years from the time of recording the title thereof", with a right of renewal for another fourteen years if the author survived to the end of the first term.

    I'm sure they won't enable the technology to do this, and then change the terms out from under us once the technological means are present.

    -- Terry