[OT] FY: Comcast/Clear QAM/MythTV/Other shoe drops

[Matthew Gillen]

On 09/22/2009 11:32 AM, Laura Conrad wrote:
>>>>>> "Bill" == Bill Bogstad <bogstad-e+AXbWqSrlAAvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org> writes:
> 
> 
>     Bill> I suppose I might investigate firewire as well, but that
>     Bill> will require renting Comcast settop boxes.
> 
> Let us know how the firewire comes out, if you do that.  I have a
> comcast box, but haven't invested the money in a firewire cable or the
> time in turning the cable box around to see if the firewire port is
> there and what shape it is (aren't there a couple of kinds of firewire
> cable?). But I'd like to know what if any channels I could record from
> (aside from over the air) if I did that.

It may be difficult to determine:
From
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r21916427-Channel-513-Fox-HD-now-5c-encrypted:
> Here is an update regarding the Fox broadcast flag. I tested randomly
> during the day and was able to successfully record over firewire. Fox seems
> to be "flipping on the copy protection switch" during primetime
> programming, from what I can gather. Recordings of House and Fringe last
> week on Fox were unsuccessful.

Not sure if that's Comcast or not, but you can bet it's coming down the pipe
with Comshaft.  All this infrastructure that allows the cable companies to
randomly disallow recording (and REQUIRES STB/CableCard rentals) is really
making me want to invest in a good antenna...

Matt