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New York, 2:39 AM
Tue Dec 8
72 posts in the last 24 hours

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of Xagest Xagest
    12/07/09

    In reply to FCC: Whoops, CableCARD Was a Total Disaster
    So how long do you think Google will be able to give us free cable programming?
     Reply
    Xagest was starred Xagest was unstarred
    Image of blash blash
    12/04/09

    In reply to FCC: Whoops, CableCARD Was a Total Disaster
    You know how you effect change? Get off your ass and DO something!

    The FCC needs to stop playing in the sidelines and step into the limelight. The big cable providers are going to remain resistant to CableCARDs when they can lease out set-top boxes to consumers and make their money that way. Require cable companies to open their networks to more standards, give a nice big "fuck you" to the MPAA and the like and require ClearQAM on all channels.

    Cable companies don't want it because it won't make them as much money. Consumers don't want it because they don't know about it. Who else do you think is gonna bump the status quo Mr. FCC?
     Reply
    blash was starred blash was unstarred
    Image of dragon:ONE dragon:ONE
    12/04/09

    In reply to FCC: Whoops, CableCARD Was a Total Disaster
    Now can we tell "IPTV" providers like AT&T to please open up their U-verse boxen to non-AT&T areas?

    I'm stuck in a Verizon serviced area - no FIOS at all up here - and I'd die for U-verse TV. All it is is one @#%#@% Internet connection out to the world, how hard can it be to open it up so us non-AT&T U-Verse areas can have some of the TV love?
     Reply
    dragon:ONE was starred dragon:ONE was unstarred
    Image of davezatz davezatz
    12/04/09

    In reply to FCC: Whoops, CableCARD Was a Total Disaster
    Everyone knows the CableCARD situation for retail-purchased devices is a mess. Nothing new or astounding out of the FCC on this. HAD the Cable Industry made this proclamation, then it'd really be something noteworthy.
     Reply
    davezatz was starred davezatz was unstarred
    Image of jpitsch jpitsch
    12/04/09

    In reply to FCC: Whoops, CableCARD Was a Total Disaster
    The government needs to step in a regulate the f out of cell phones, internet and tv providers. These industries exhibit so many oligopolistic characteristics, that you can almost call them monopolies.

    They need way more regulation.
     Reply
    jpitsch was starred jpitsch was unstarred
    Image of Bertone77 Bertone77
    12/04/09

    In reply to FCC: Whoops, CableCARD Was a Total Disaster
    I have Comcast and when I first bought my 40" Samsung LCD I decided to get the cableCARD for it instead of having a set top box. (hey its got the slot for it, why not, right?)

    But it sucked so bad I got rid of it within a week, it never synced to the guide to display the upcoming shows or info about the show, completely incompatible with PIP, no ON-Demand service, it didn't even have all the HD channels available that I was paying for. I called Comcast and they blamed it on the TV, which may be partly true, I guess. Or they gimped it on purpose so I would have to rent the more expensive set-top box.

    Utter Junk.
     Reply
    Edited by Bertone77 at 12/04/09 5:10 PM Bertone77 was starred Bertone77 was unstarred
    Image of MrEvil MrEvil
    12/04/09

    In reply to FCC: Whoops, CableCARD Was a Total Disaster
    One other thing they could do to fix it is take away the power of Cable Labs to decide who can and can't have Cable Card devices and leave that up to the FCC. There's no shortage of bootleg HDTV shows making it onto torrent sites in spite of Cable Labs' draconian protections on Cable Card technology. If anything Cable Lab's death-grip on Cable Card technology has promoted piracy than done anything to prevent it. If I could have a Cable Card tuner for my PC right now I'd probably re-up my CATV subscription and not torrent any shows I watch on a regular basis.

    Its either that or do to the Cable companies what they did to Ma Bell not too long ago. Remember the old acoustic coupler modems and fax machines of yore? That was because you couldn't connect anything but Bell's equipment to the telephone lines and you had to "rent" the phones from them. The Government put the kibosh on that, the same as they should with the cable companies.
     Reply
    MrEvil was starred MrEvil was unstarred
    Image of Xeno Xeno
    12/04/09

    @MrEvil: It's kinda moving in that direction now. With Win 7 you can just buy a CC tuner for a PC and install it yourself. Tivo can use the cards as well. What they should do in addition to your idea is to require cable companies to allow people to install cards themselves instead of requiring a truck roll.
     Reply
    Xeno was starred Xeno was unstarred
    Image of screemname screemname
    12/04/09

    @MrEvil: So your answer to not being able to steal a program through your cable company because they try to make it so you can't steal it is to steal it another way?

    I guess you fail to see the fact that you're stealing something that isn't yours huh?
     Reply
    MrEvil promoted this comment screemname was starred screemname was unstarred
    Image of MrEvil MrEvil
    12/04/09

    @screemname: I'm just saying all these airtight restrictions on cable card equipment has done absolutely nothing to curb piracy. Go to any Torrent site and you can download High Def TV of any program, Even those from premium cable without restriction. I mean the fact that this stuff even exists proves that all of the DRM on CableCard equipment has failed.
     Reply
    MrEvil was starred MrEvil was unstarred
    Image of EBone EBone
    12/04/09

    In reply to FCC: Whoops, CableCARD Was a Total Disaster
    Don't the TiVo Series 3 HD machines have CableCard ports?
     Reply
    EBone was starred EBone was unstarred
    Image of Xeno Xeno
    12/04/09

    @EBone: Ya
     Reply
    Xeno was starred Xeno was unstarred
    Image of Canoehead Canoehead
    12/04/09

    @EBone: Yes, and they actually work well, once the *sshole CableCo monkeys install the cards. CableCard was a failure because the CableCos hated it and managed to give it the death of a thousand cuts.
     Reply
    Canoehead was starred Canoehead was unstarred
    Image of Xeno Xeno
    12/04/09

    In reply to FCC: Whoops, CableCARD Was a Total Disaster
    Correction: You did not need to have a CableCard installed by the OEM. You had to buy a CableCard TUNER with a new PC. You get the CableCard from your cable provider. Second you don't have to have this to use your computer as a DVR. You can have install OTA tuners yourself and there are some cable tuners that will tune all non encrypted cable shows.
     Reply
    Xeno was starred Xeno was unstarred
    Image of madog madog
    12/04/09

    @Xeno: Separate tuners, whatever OTA is, and the cablecard itself... Sounds easy enough for grandma to use.

    Wait, screw grandma. I have no idea what you're talking about either.
     Reply
    Edited by madog at 12/04/09 6:48 PM madog was starred madog was unstarred
    Image of Xeno Xeno
    12/04/09

    @madog: Didn't say it was easy or simple. Just some minor factual corrections. Try not to fault my grammar I'm sick and tired.

    OTA=over the air(using an antenna).
     Reply
    Xeno was starred Xeno was unstarred
    Image of Dr. Evil Genius has learned that MILF stands for Moro Islamic Liberation Front Dr. Evil Genius has learned that MILF stands for Moro Islamic Liberation Front
    12/04/09

    In reply to FCC: Whoops, CableCARD Was a Total Disaster
    Whose idea was it to employ a hand model with messed-up-looking hands?

    That's what's wrong with the CableCARD - hand models with horrible hands.
     Reply
    Dr. Evil Genius has learned that MILF stands for Moro Islamic Liberation Front was starred Dr. Evil Genius has learned that MILF stands for Moro Islamic Liberation Front was unstarred
    Image of EBone EBone
    12/04/09

    @Dr. Evil Genius has learned that MILF stands for Moro Islamic Liberation Front: Nail Fungus.
     Reply
    EBone was starred EBone was unstarred
    Image of HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H. HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H.
    12/04/09

    In reply to FCC: Whoops, CableCARD Was a Total Disaster
    You know what they could do to fix it?

    Require all cable boxes to output unencrypted video of all subscribed channels via FireWire.
     Reply
    HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H. was starred HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
    Image of paulrules paulrules
    12/04/09

    @HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H.: That's like putting a looping audio clip on the back of a STB that plays when you turn it on that says "YAR HAR, PIRATE ME!"
     Reply
    Monty promoted this comment paulrules was starred paulrules was unstarred
    Image of HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H. HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H.
    12/04/09

    @paulrules: How cute, you still think DRM's meant to stop piracy.
     Reply
    HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H. was starred HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
    Image of HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H. HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H.
    12/04/09

    Damn double post
     Reply
    Edited by HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H. at 12/04/09 5:30 PM HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H. was starred HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
    Image of Demonbird Demonbird
    12/04/09

    In reply to FCC Heroes Get Into the Verizon ETF Pile-On
    God help me, but GO FCC! GO!
    While you are at it, ask them why it is my fault they sell a phone with software incompatibility with their network that renders it useless.
     Reply
    Demonbird was starred Demonbird was unstarred
    Image of AmphetamineCrown AmphetamineCrown
    12/01/09

    In reply to Database Created by FCC for Devices Using White Space Spectrum
    Well, technically speaking, the FCC only issued a notice looking for database administrators, so we are still a bit of a ways off from seeing a functional database (or actual TV whitespace products). The comment cycle on the proposals doesn't wind up until late Feb., so best case for a decision actually appointing an administrator is probably summer, and it will take some time for the administrator to actually open its doors for business... So... don't hold your breath.
     Reply
    AmphetamineCrown was starred AmphetamineCrown was unstarred
    Image of Cash907Censored Cash907Censored
    11/05/09

    In reply to MPAA Still Trying to Plug Your Analog Hole with Selectable Output Control
    What does any of this matter? I still can't upconvert my dvd's over the component cables Sony swore to me 6 years ago would be the new enduring standard. Like anyone who is tech savvy enough to dub movies off their cable box would actually order an on demand movie anyway, when they can get it for free off of the torrents. #selectableoutputcontrolmpaa
     Reply
    Cash907Censored was starred Cash907Censored was unstarred
    Image of uchendunwachukwu uchendunwachukwu
    11/05/09

    In reply to MPAA Still Trying to Plug Your Analog Hole with Selectable Output Control
    A couple of things:

    The MPAA's member companies want to release movies online before they hit theaters, not just DVD. This is something a lot of people have been asking them to do for a while.

    But in order to do that, they want to be able to say "you can only watch this movie through a HDMI or HDCP connection from your cable/VoD box."

    I don't think that is unreasonable. Most HDMI-enabled cable boxes already disable the analog outputs when you are using HDMI and the HDMI handshake fails, and the restriction as currently proposed by the MPAA would only apply when watching movies released before theaters. You aren't going to be place-shifting or time-shifting those movies via Sling or your DVR, because you'll order them on-demand from your Cable company, Amazon or iTunes and watch them right then.

    As for those who may only have Component inputs on their TVs, well time to upgrade bitches. Hell, my old 2004-model CRT HDTV had an HDCP-enabled DVI input, and that was five years ago. And even if you don't want to upgrade, well you can just go see the movie in a theater like normal.

    The only real issue I see with this is the "slippery slope" problem where first it'll just be for pre-theatrical movies, then it'll be for all on-demand titles, then it'll be for everything on cable. Honestly? I can't say I give a crap. By the time that happens, everyone who cares will have upgraded so that it won't affect their viewing habits at all. #selectableoutputcontrolmpaa
     Reply
    Danny Allen promoted this comment uchendunwachukwu was starred uchendunwachukwu was unstarred
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