[mythtv-users] Cam emulators and myth?

Simon Hobson linux at thehobsons.co.uk
Wed Sep 22 08:46:37 UTC 2010


qeldroma at gmx.net wrote:
>Ok, so sorry for this!
>
>Didn't knew that using one smartcard for multiple Receiver-cards is 
>against drm.

The problem is that some of the developers, and the list servers, are 
in the US. In the US they have the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright 
Act) which gives a really steeply sloped playing field. Anyone who 
thinks their copyright is being breached can serve a takedown notice 
which usually means the ISP will just "pull the plug" and possibly 
ask questions later. What is supposed to happen is that they ask 
questions first, but penalties for not complying with a takedown 
notice are there, while complaints from customers can be ignored. 
Since there are effectively no penalties for making false takedown 
requests, it's a nice way for people to cripple sites they disapprove 
of.

Also, there is a clause that makes it a criminal offense to bypass 
any "technical protection mechanism", or to discuss how to bypass 
such a mechanism, or to provide tools to do so. That still applies 
even if the TPM is completely and utterly broken (like CSS on DVDs), 
or even never worked in the first place.

Thus, discussion of using a CAM module (or equivalent) is off-limits 
because under the DMCA discussion of such is illegal - or at least is 
likely to be. In most cases, the terms of use of the module/viewing 
card/whatever restricts the use to approved equipment - so even 
though it may be a card you've paid your subscription to etc, 
discussion of how to use it may well still be illegal in the US ! But 
it doesn't have to actually be illegal - just the fact that it 
**could** be is enough for someone to get the servers shutdown with a 
DMCA takedown notice.
Of course, a lot of discussion around use of CAMs etc **is** for 
illicit purposes, and so the appearance of illegality is there. Image 
is everything, and Myth as a project really can't afford to get known 
as a "tool for pirates" as some would like to label anything that's 
not "approved" by the film studios etc.

Crazy ? Completely. But unfortunately, until the US wakes up and 
reigns back on things like the DMCA then it's the situation people 
are stuck with. I'm not holding my breath on that.
The inconsistency is that we still discuss playing DVDs and recording 
the output of cable tuner boxes.

However, in terms of where you may find information, you just need to 
be aware that Myth does not itself use any decoding mechanism. It 
merely needs a receiver or input that can provide a data stream - 
whether that's from a tuner card that provides the raw DVB-T stream 
for unencrypted channels, or a network stream from something like the 
HD Homerun, or ...
In effect, if something is supported by Video4Linux and provides an 
enencrypted stream, then Myth should be able to make use of the 
datastream provided.

-- 
Simon Hobson

Visit http://www.magpiesnestpublishing.co.uk/ for books by acclaimed
author Gladys Hobson. Novels - poetry - short stories - ideal as
Christmas stocking fillers. Some available as e-books.


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