[opendtv] Re: Scrambled channels irk cable viewers
- From: Eory Frank-p22212 <Frank.Eory@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "'opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 13 May 2004 15:44:30 -0700
From: Mark Schubin <tvmark@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Thu, 13 May 2004 16:04:56 -0400
>>Of *course* they were happy to get the freebies, but that's the
>>whole point.
>Having experienced something similar years ago with Time Warner, I would
>like to point out that this is not necessarily an issue of freebies. I
>am (and was at the time) a Time Warner subscriber paying for
>extended-basic service and a set-top box. The basic channels being
>transmitted in the clear allowed me to watch one program while recording
>another. Time Warner then scrambled the basic (and extended-basic)
>channels, and I could no longer make a recording without using their box
>(not a rights issue). Tht screwed up my connections and timer-recording
>capability. Not even their more-expensive "Watch-&-Record" box would
>restore the functionality I originally had.
Unfortunately, watching one channel and recording another requires two tuners.
If we're talking unscrambled analog video, then your VCR provides one of those
tuners, and either your TV set or STB provides the other. If the analog video
is scrambled, the only way you'll ever "watch-&-record" is with a dual tuner
STB. This is another good reason not to implement analog scrambling, besides
the most obvious reason -- that it is a very insecure type of conditional
access. Remember the old spam about the $20 cable TV descrambler?.
But for most of us, this is ancient history, back when analog STBs were still
being manufactured and deployed. I think the only way for subscribers to get an
analog STB now is if the MSO re-deploys older refurbished units. Cox here in
Phoenix stopped deploying analog STBs two or three years ago -- but if you
still have one, they won't come out and take it away from you (yet).
I suspect the situation in Boston is a temporary one, due to the fact that
Comcast inherited a not-so-modern network from AT&T Broadband, which probably
did very little to modernize the network they inherited from Three Channels
Inc. (TCI).
-- Frank
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