FCC to allow encryption of basic cable

[spike5884]

What the heck. There goes basic cable. Ans why is Boxee so special.

FCC to allow encryption of basic cable, with a few strings that Boxee approves of

[HokiePerogi]

I really do not understand why. Why all of the sudden? So basically the FCC just made it so that every cable subscriber will need to rent a CableCard or STB from the cable company or use rabbit ears. How is this protecting the American public from Corporate greet? I'm disgusted and will now lose 4 tuners in my SageTV setup. And if I can't get SageDCT to stop crashing every day or two I'm officially done with SageTV.

[Skybolt]

Well if that is just the best news ever...
Glad I have two HDHR's

It really makes no sense, since the locals should still be free/unencrypted.
Soon the OTA will not be free any longer ...

[darcilicious]

Originally Posted by spike5884

Ans why is Boxee so special.

FCC to allow encryption of basic cable, with a few strings that Boxee approves of

From the Boxee Blog: http://blog.boxee.tv/2012/10/14/boxe...for-innovation

Cable companies have been wanting to do this for a long time and the writing was on the wall for anyone who has been following this issue.

Boxee isn't "special" other than the fact that they were involved in coming up with a solution that will allow third-party access to basic channels after they become encrypted. That third-party isn't limited to just Boxee.

[darcilicious]

Originally Posted by Skybolt

Soon the OTA will not be free any longer ...

That's FUD, pure and simple. The way that OTA is "governed" is completely different than cable.

[valerio]

I guess that is it for my SageTV install then.

I was about to get ready to test Slugger listings plugin just in case Sage listings server was going offline at the end of the year, but at this stage I might as well start selecting a new solution altogether.

Will the HDHR even work with this since the streams are encrypted? I thought you needed Windows Media Center, or is that only for the copy-once/never flags?

The question now is: How soon before TWC will switch the encryption on?
At that time I guess I will either get a Tivo XL4 to connect to TWC or consider satellite. However the only satellite DVRs that can record comprable to the TIVO is DISH that includes a 2TB hard-drive.

What do you guys think?

[Enormous]

This suuuuuuuuucks. I rely heavily on getting my HD locals over clear-QAM. If they cut that off I'm not sure what my next move will be.

[rxnelson]

I'm assuming if I pony up for the stbs it would still work? Of course I would need a few more usb-uirts? I guess that also assumes the stb is coax/svideo out....or component for hd-pvr. Missing something? In any case yea it sucks.

[waynedunham]

It is fast approaching a point where I won't be able to watch TV at all I guess. NO, I am NOT going to use the POS STB's that Comcast has to watch Tv. I have a couple that I use with my HDPVR's, but doing that I don't have to agonize over the grotesquely slow, horrendously designed interface, and the completely unwatchable thing they call "On Demand".

Where I live (and any of the possible places I might retire to in a few years) OTA isn't an option, and the last time I checked USA, TNT, SyFy, ESPN, etc (where a majority of my TV watching resides) didn't have an OTA option.

So, thanks FCC for NOTHING!

Instead of passing regulations like this you should have been doing your JOB doing things like regulating the difference in volume between commercials and programming, mandating that if a sporting event is scheduled to end at 4pm that the game MUST be over by then even if it means the network has to cut some of the time for commercials, halftime shows, etc.
But no you sit there and say "Hmmm, people are still able to watch television, we have to FIX THAT!) ARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!

[tvmaster2]

the five votes that control our stuff:

http://www.fcc.gov/leadership

write them, and complain as loudly and as often as possible.

[tmiranda]

Can somebody explain what they mean when they say the channels must be available via IP? Does that mean streaming from the net? Is this something that we geeky Sagers can exploit?

[stanger89]

Probably means something like Allvid, where you get a box/gateway that converts QAM/coax to ethernet/IP, so you would "stream" from a box in your basement. Question is will that stream be clear or will it involve DTCP-IP or something. I haven't actually read anything I'm just guessing if they're talking IP access in the home, that's what it sounds like.

FWIW, I don't have a problem in principal with encryption between the provider and the user. It makes things easier (cheaper) on the cable company and protects against unauthorized access.

The problem is always with what happens once it gets to your house. eg Dish and DTV not providing a way for common hardware to decrypt the signal (ie CAM/CI like in EU/UK) or wrapping DRM on top of it.

If the box/IP converter produces a clear stream then I don't really see a problem with it. But if they do like they usually do and hork it up, well then I'm with everyone else's comments here.

[rochurch]

Yeah, this is really bad news. I'm about done with cable too. Time for me to bite the bullet and put up an OTA antenna. I'm really not happy with my cable box HD-PVR solution for one big reason. TWC reboots the cable box on a irregular basis every several weeks. When they reboot the box it comes back up in an off state. I really should have make a seperate thread about this to see if anyone has come up with a solution, but basically I start missing shows and then go up to my office and turn it back on.

So maybe my future is get major networks with OTA and get a couple of satellite boxes. Any suggestions Dish vs. Direct TV. Hardware model numbers? Places to get good deals? Of course got to have the analog HD out for the HDPVR and Colossus. Right now the Colossus is offline since I only have one cable box and it was making my system lock up when I used if a few weeks because the power supply was out on the HDPVR.

p.s. TWC already flags everything but networks where I live so Sage can't record via cable card. I really don't want to use Media Center because I'm addicted to commercial skip.

[stanger89]

I don't know, depending on the F1 schedule next year, DTV with an HR34 and clients doesn't sound like a bad solution for me.

[panteragstk]

I can say that if everything with sage ceased working and I couldn't make my colossus work with anything else, I'd go with a regular DirecTV setup. Way better DVR interface than in the past, plus their equipment is pretty rock solid. Best channel lineup out there.

[Tiki]

I don't get it - aren't most of the cable companies encrypting basic cable already? The FCC has been granting waivers to the cable co's for years that allowed this already.

Where I live, as soon as Comcast rolled out digital and HD, they encrypted the basic channels (except for the locals, QVC, and a few religious channels).

I hate that they do this, but as far as I can see, this "change" is just a formalization of a policy that the FCC has more or less had in place for several years anyway.

[darcilicious]

Originally Posted by Tiki

Where I live, as soon as Comcast rolled out digital and HD, they encrypted the basic channels (except for the locals, QVC, and a few religious channels).

Right. Now they'll be able to encrypt locals.

[Skybolt]

Originally Posted by darcilicious

That's FUD, pure and simple. The way that OTA is "governed" is completely different than cable.

True, but wasn't there something about cable having to provide clear QAM for locals IIRC? And wouldn't htis change all that?

[Skybolt]

Originally Posted by panteragstk

I can say that if everything with sage ceased working and I couldn't make my colossus work with anything else, I'd go with a regular DirecTV setup. Way better DVR interface than in the past, plus their equipment is pretty rock solid. Best channel lineup out there.

When I had DTV, they were great, I switched because my service had too many interuptions from bad weather, but everything else was great.

[darcilicious]

Originally Posted by Skybolt

True, but wasn't there something about cable having to provide clear QAM for locals IIRC? And wouldn't htis change all that?

I'm sorry -- I don't understand your questions in relation to OTA broadcasts.

But yes, since 1994 the rule has been cable companies must provide local channels unencrypted for "cable ready" TVs. And yes, this new ruling says cable companies can now encrypt locals but ONLY if they provide mechanisms that allow third-parties to still access those channels for consumer products. This would allow, for example, SiliconDust to create an HDHR-type product for local channels over cable without going the CableCARD route.

So I fail to see what any of that hat got to with the statement "Soon the OTA will not be free any longer ..." other than a misplaced sense of "the sky is falling".