[U-Boot] U-book and GPLv3? (fwd)

[Scott Wood]

On Fri, Jul 03, 2009 at 09:47:20AM -0400, Richard Stallman wrote:
> 
>     You'd make me happy if I was able to access cable TV signals I have
>     paid for without DRM.
> 
> I think it is not quite correct to call cable scrambling DRM.  DRM
> restricts the use of data you have a copy of.  Cable scrambling
> prevents you from getting the data if you do not pay for the
> descrambler; however, as far as I know, once you do have the
> descrambler, and do get the data, it does not seriously impede your
> use of the data.

It requires that I use a specific tuner, whereas unscrambled channels
allow me to use any tuner (including one built into the TV, VCR, DVR,
etc).  Often this tuner must be rented from the cable company on a per-TV
basis, in addition to the cost of subscribing to the channels -- and
channel changing from a DVR must happen via a sluggish and sometimes
error-prone infrared interface.

It's not as bad as full DRM, sure, but it's more annoying than if they'd
just filtered out the unsubscribed channels.

-Scott