[NCLUG] MythTV Questions

[Brian Wood]

Paul Hummer wrote:
> 
>> What you are proposing would be theft of service if you did not pay 
>> for the cable subscription. Most Myth users would be wiling to pay for 
>> a device (CableCard?) that allowed them to use the programming they 
>> are paying for in the way they want, but I guess that's too much to 
>> ask from an industry that refuses to condone watching a DVD on your 
>> platform of choice. 
> I have no problem paying for services rendered to me.  That's completely 
> fine.  However, it doesn't sound like anyone is willing to allow you to 
> make your own set top box, and that's quite a disappointment.  If I'm 
> paying for the service, and I'm allowed to use a DVR on it AFTER the 
> cable box, why do the cable companies feel the need to encrypt the 
> signal?  I guess I just don't understand that much about the cable company.

I don't think the problem is the cable companies, I think it is the 
proverbial "Hollywood Types" that provide them with programming and have 
been brainwashed into believing that unless draconian measures are taken 
their precious "content" will be stolen by every citizen of the earth.

The real problem may be the corporate mindset. With Windows you can 
enter into a contract with Microsoft, and have your lawyers sue them if 
you believe they have violated it. With Linux who would you contract 
with? Who would you sue if you thought there was a violation? Linux 
seemt to them to be total anarchy, with no way to get the government to 
enforce your point of view. Campaign contributions do not help, nor do 
lawyers, or even judges.

Can you imagine trying to buy off Richard Stallman? Or even Linus?

Microsoft is peddling DRM, so of course they will encourage the idea 
that you are in deep trouble without it.

The cable companies have to sign agreements with the H'Wood types in 
order to get programming, so they are somewhat limited in what they can do.

Of course the real problem is that the cable companies and the cable 
operators are, in many cases, the same entities (witness TW and Viacom). 
This totally undoes the fix that the government imposed back in the 
1930s with the "great divorce" that disallowed the movie studios owning 
theaters.

beww