[mythtv-users] commercially-produced mythboxes -- an idea

[Brad Templeton]

On Thu, Jan 13, 2005 at 08:49:30AM -0700, Brandon Beattie wrote:
> > Then there's the whole broadcast flag issue with the hdtv stuff.  I 
> > don't think anyone really knows what's going to happen to the linux hdtv 
> > market come June.
> 
> I suggest you speak/email to Wendy Zeltzer of EFF (Who is on this list) or 
> read EFF's pages this issue.  She knows exactly what will happen. :)
> I'm out of touch on this area slightly because I'm not following the
> court case.  But if you sell the PC's before July, there's nothing to
> worry about.  After that it will be illegal to *sell* fully built cards.
> (All components together, microcode included, etc.)  If you build your
> own you're fine.  Hmm, interesting though isn't it?


Indeed.  What's going to be illegal to sell is a device which will
record over the air digital TV, and in spite of the broadcast flag
being set to forbid it, still makes the full res digital video available
in the clear, on disk or on plain digital outputs.  (IIRC, you can
make it available as QAM or ATSC again, with the broadcast flag intact.
For a variety of reasons, a cheap ATSC modulator card would be a neat
thing for PVRs, providing high quality output to HDTVs over RF.  I
find this highly ironic.  In the old days, using RF from your VCR to
your TV was the deprecrated approach.  Today, it would be great, a
simple cheap cable with high quality signal bundling multiple
channels of audio and video together at perfect digital quality!)

The prediction is there should be a run of purchases of cards just
before the deadline.  Those who purchase their cards before that
will be fine in using them after the deadline.   We were doing some
research on whether the cards could undergo private sale after the
fact, they almost surely can be given away.

And of course, we continue to spend a great deal of effort trying to
fight the rules in the first place, both here, and the new rules for
DVB being promoted overseas, and a similar rule for ATSC in Canada.
That's our biggest effort, we have folks like Cory Doctorow travelling
the world going to standards meetings to deflect these efforts.