[NTLUG:Discuss] HDTV card for Linux

[lonny.dahl@verizon.com]

So, basically, this will outlaw open source because we won't be able to see
the flags themselves?  I'm not sure I follow how this will outlaw open
source software in relation to this.

Doesn't Tivo run on Linux now?  If it does, will Tivo have to come up with
a different operating system to use for their boxes when the law kicks in
since Linux is open source?  And what's to stop someone from hacking the
broadcast flag illegally anyway?  It happens all the time with satellite
tv...people reprogramming the access cards to open up whatever programming
they want....it's not WIDESPREAD, but I've known people who have done it.

L. Wayne Dahl
Fiber Network Technician
FTTP Fiber Solutions Center


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  |       Subject:  Re: [NTLUG:Discuss] HDTV card for Linux                                                              |
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* lonny.dahl at verizon.com <lonny.dahl at verizon.com> [040908 07:07]:
>
> I'm afraid I have to plead ignorance about this issue.  What happens
> in July?  What is the broadcast flag you're talking about for (what
> does it do?) and why or how does this law outlaw open source,
> especially in regards to HDTV?

Broadcasters will attach a "broadcast flag" to their broadcasts in order
to restrict access to the broadcast data.  Hardware sold after July must
recognize this flag and impose whatever limits the flag requires, and
the hardware must provide "robust" safeguards against consumer tampering
(i.e., not like what has happened with dvd regions, where manufacturers
build in override codes and then consumers use the codes to bypass the
regions).  If the new law works as planned, broadcasters will be able to
hinder people from recording live television.  The flag can say that a
certain stream can be decrypted only for a certain number of hours or
days after broadcast--or that it can only be viewed live.  And since all
the equipment capable of decrypting these streams will fall under such
laws, moving the decrypted stream off to another medium, such as vcr or
hard drive, will (if the law works as intended) become practically
impossible.  You will only be able to watch hdtv broadcasts on approved
(tamper-resistent) devices, and only hdtv broadcasts will be available
since traditional broadcasts are being phased out.

I'm far from an expert on this.  For more info, see

             http://eff.org/IP/Video/HDTV/

--
Lance Simmons

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