Cablecard's dark secret

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

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- -------- Original Message --------
Subject: Cablecard's dark secret
Date: Thu, 09 Feb 2006 12:18:35 -0800
From: Brad Templeton <btm () templetons com>
Organization: http://www.templetons.com/brad
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
CC: ip () v2 listbox com
References: <43EB34F8.2090102 () farber net>

On Thu, Feb 09, 2006 at 07:26:32AM -0500, Dave Farber wrote:
> That's why we've prepared this handy guide to CableCARD. Once you're 
> done reading it, you will know more about CableCARDs than anyone in 
> the country, save the engineers who developed them.* You will learn 
> what to tell your Uncle Wilbur when he asks if his new TV really 
> needs to have a CableCARD slot, you'll know what new hardware to buy 
> if you want to use a CableCARD with Vista, and you'll learn why your 
> mother was right when she told you that patience is a virtue.

The cablecard would be a fabulous idea if it were only about
conditional access (ie. you only get HBO if you paid for HBO.)

Unfortunately, it's also about DRM -- even if you paid for HBO you
can't get it except on equipment that's be blessed as conforming to
various DRM rules that limit what you can do with it once you get it.

So an open source video recording tool, such as the MythTV system I
used to watch all my TV on, is unlikely to ever get a licence to have
a cablecard slot.   That's because, as an open source tool, it can't
avoid giving you access to the ordinary video and audio data, and it
needs it to do all sorts of innovative things not found in Tivos or
set top boxes of all stripes.

Even if it could get this licence, simply to apply for cablecard
certification is $100,000.   Not something any open source project is
going to do.   And there's an argument that every new version would
have to re-apply (open source tools have 5 new revisions a day, if you want
them, typically.)

Cablecard allows well funded players like Tivo to build their boxes,
but shuts out the small garage innovator.   It's better than only
allowing the cable company's partner set-top-box to play, but only
a little bit better.

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