[mythtv-users] ATTENTION: Want to help remove 5C FireWire encryption?

Steven Adeff adeffs.mythtv at gmail.com
Wed Feb 7 14:31:37 UTC 2007


On 2/7/07, Brian Wood <beww at beww.org> wrote:
> On Feb 7, 2007, at 6:59 AM, Steven Adeff wrote:
> > On 2/7/07, Brad DerManouelian <myth at dermanouelian.com> wrote:
> >> On Feb 6, 2007, at 9:02 PM, Yeechang Lee wrote:
> >>> To my fellow American MythTV users:
> >>
> >> Is there any talk about extended this to satellite providers? For
> >> many reasons, I do not and will not subscribe to Comcast cable. I
> >> currently get OTA HD, but if DirecTV offered a box with Firewire, I
> >> would be thrilled.
> >
> > From what I understand, the satellite companies are not controlled by
> > the FCC (since they were not handed a government mandated monopoly, a
> > catch-22 in the world of cable), so they can play by their own rules.
> > There are companies that sell modified satellite hardware for grabbing
> > the streamed mpeg file though...
> >
>
> The satellite carries certainly like to cite the FCC as a reason for
> not giving customers access to the MPEG stream. Both the PR and the
> technical people will swear that they really want to do this and the
> bad old FCC will not let them.
>
> I don't believe it for a second. I have read Section 304 of the
> telecommunications act and it says no such thing.

next time they feed you that line, ask them to give you the exact FCC
"law" that they feel bans them from allowing you access.

> But I think that except perhaps at the very highest levels the sat
> carrier employees believe it to be true. It's certainly easier for
> the higher-ups to just "blame the government" than to try and explain
> legalese that even the lawyers who wrote it can't agree on the
> meaning of.
>
> As I understand it the modified receivers *may* be illegal, at least
> in the USA, but because of the DMCA, not the rules most often cited.

As I understand it, and IANAL, the DMCA prevents work-arounds related
to encryption. Since the satellite boxes don't provide this type of
connection to begin with, there is no encryption to break, once the
signal is legally decrypted by your subscription card there is no
reason you should not be able to have access to it.

Of course, if they truly want to give you access to the streams, then
they would have no complaints against you modifying the boxes to gain
access.

-- 
Steve
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