"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" wrote:

Michael A. Terrell wrote:
So, you think someone should be able to us one company's equipment to
steal service from another?

Is that a serious question or just a troll?

I never said anything about stealing. There are economies of scale in
service, support and repair realized by using the same equipment with the
same standards.


Sigh. Economy of scale would make it insane to build the equipment to
process the competitor's signals.


As for preventing theft or signal piracy, there are standards in place for
external decryption add ons for satellite and cable TV receivers. They
range from a simple memory chip with encryption keys on it, to custom
decryption hardware.

The form factor is a credit card sized smart card, like the one used for
GSM SIMs (subscriber ID modules) in the early phones.

Using standard hardware and transmission methods allows a customer to buy
the exact receiver they want, have it installed in the location and setup
they want and get the support options they want.


Buy what? the signal provider provideds the hardware. The only
thing you buy is the service. Is that so hard to understand? I can
call brighthouse, and they will turn on the existing drop, and connect
their hardware. I can call Dish or Direct. They will install their
antenna and reciever.



The program provider sends them a decryption card which they insert in the
receiver and then watch the programs they pay for. Since the interface
standard is an open one, anyone can build receivers and program providers
are free to choose the encryption method they want without being wedded to
a particular receiver.

These devices exist not only as parts of a receiver, but as an add on for
home theater PCs. I have seen them sold for Windows and Mac computers.


Maybe where you live. You can buy a TV tuner card here, and connect
it in place of the TV from any of the other services availible in the
US. This isn't Israel.


--
You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a band-aid on it, because it's
Teflon coated.