As expected CableCard support will be available on Windows Vista Media Centers when Microsoft releases Vista later this month bringing HD video recording to MCE. Unfortunately anything to do with CableCards is going to come with a nice selection of restrictions thanks to CableLabs.
Only certified manufacturers will be able to create media center PCs with CableCard support and any video that comes through the CableCard will be heavily protected and armed with DRM.
The video will be decrypted from cable and then re-encrypted in the tuner with Microsoft DRM. The video will then travel through a USB port to the media center, even if the Tuner is an internal PCI card.
All files stored on the hard drive will be encrypted and don't expect much copying or placeshifting to happen. No copying is permitted and while streaming media to Vista Media Extenders is allowed through a home network, copying media to a Zune or other portable media device is not permitted.
It looks like Vista media centers have it just as bad as the TiVo Series 3. Thanks CableLabs.
1. This seems too restrictive to me.
The consumer electronics industry, the content producers and content providers are scheming themselves into a hellish new world where consumers come last and are likely to rebel.
I hope it will die due to consumer displeasure and frustration.
Seems there are some major antitrust issues with the CableCard certification requirements since it shuts out small companies unnecessarily.
Posted at 9:03AM on Jan 12th 2007 by Richard Frisch