[mythtv] [PATCH] Enable recording of encrypted channels without decrypting them first.

[James Courtier-Dutton]

On 15 July 2010 15:49, Gavin Hurlbut <gjhurlbu at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, Jul 15, 2010 at 12:41 AM, James Courtier-Dutton
> <james.dutton at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I do not live in the USA so I might not understand your laws.
>> Currently, myth uses a CAM to decrypt the DVB stream and then records
>> it in its decrypted form.
>> How is storing it in its encrypted form and then decrypting it later
>> suddenly break some DMCA law?
>> If you could point me to the paragraph in the DMCA law that it breaks,
>> that would be of interest to me.
>
> The problem lies in that we would not be using the "proper" device to
> decrypt.  The DMCA has a portion that makes bypassing encryption illegal,
> including using unauthorized decryption devices.  This is why the author of
> the DVD decryption libraries was arrested in the USA at one point (even
> though he doesn't live here).
> If you store it encrypted, and later decrypt it via the CAM provided by the
> broadcaster/cable company, then sure, all is fine.  The issue with that is:
> the providers here in the USA do not provide CAMs (there may be a few
> exceptions), and the only authorized devices are the devices that they
> provide.  This means the decryption must be done in their device (usually a
> STB).  Trying to bypass that control by decrypting in our software would put
> us at significant legal risk.
> As for the precise paragraph, I don't have the time to go hunting, and I'm
> not a lawyer, but just be aware...   There are restrictions in place.  This
> is also why MythTV does not directly decrypt DVDs or BluRay disks, to my
> knowledge.

Ok, we have nothing like that sort of highly restrictive practices here.
If I understand correctly, the "decrypting" step is the problem area.
So, my patch itself is not a problem, as it does no decrypting at all.
A patch to recognise the encrypted stream and drop them in
mythfrontend would also be fine.
I would have to create a "plugin" to do the actual decryption, and
never submit it as a patch to myth, although I could host the patch on
a web site where I live.

Do I understand correctly?

Kind Regards

James