[mythtv-users] Hijacked - PVR-500

Brett Kosinski fancypantalons at gmail.com
Fri Apr 6 17:43:32 UTC 2007

> Yes that is how cablecard was designed to be used.  But TimeWarnerCable
> (and other cable companies) have decided to lock the cablecard to one device
> (based on the device serial number?).

Umm, no, that's not at all how it was designed to be used.  It has always
been in the CableCard spec that the card and design are authenticated as a
pair.  That way, they can ensure the card isn't used in "undesirable"
hardware... like, say, a Linux box with hacked drivers.  This is just
another part of their attempt to control the content path.

See the Arstechnica article on CableCard, here, where they discuss these


To quote:

'Both the CableCARD and the "host" device (TV, TiVo, PC, STB, etc.) have
their own unique keys that are recorded by the technician, who then calls
this information back to the main office, where it is entered into the
computers at the "headend" of the cable line. These unique keys provide more
security for the cable company but less freedom for the consumer, since
encrypted channels can only be decoded by a registered CableCARD/host

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