Ask Slashdot: Dealing With Flagged Channels For XBMC PVR? 328
AlphaWolf_HK writes "I own an HDHomeRun Prime tuner, and unfortunately I live in an area where the cable provider (Cox) blanket flags all channels to be copy restricted. I'm tired of using Windows Media Center due to bugs and other problems, but since the channels are flagged it is the only option. Satellite is of course not an option at all (no cablecard or similar standard.) I've already begun moving most of my content watching to XBMC in the form of using sickbeard and couchpotato, both of which do an amazing job even with torrents now that Usenet has been getting hit pretty hard. To match this, I've already dropped my cable tier to the lowest possible for some basic digital channels that people in my household still watch and aren't available over torrents. But ideally I'd like to cut the cord completely as the service is otherwise useless. Are there any options for obtaining this content without physically moving to Comcast territory where they don't do this? Or perhaps any workarounds for the CCI flag? Ideally, anything that allows XBMC with digital content and no transcoding."
Re:Don't try it, it's illegal (Score:5, Insightful)
I believe the OP is looking for answers, not a lecture.
Re:Don't try it, it's illegal (Score:2, Insightful)
I canceled cable tv about a year ago. No history on the history channel, and reality tv on TLC/Discover etc. Honey boo boo was the last straw. I looked at our viewing habits closely and realized we really didn't watch that much any more that couldn't be replaced with DVD rental and Netflix/Amazon streaming. I honestly haven't missed it and get more than enough entertainment from those other sources. We watch less TV, but what we do watch is far more focused on what we want to see rather than whats on at the time.
Re:Don't try it, it's illegal (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Rule #1 (Score:3, Insightful)
Low expectations are the death of the free market.
They're the death of liberty in general.
You must be one really sad little sheep.
Re:Don't try it, it's illegal (Score:4, Insightful)
> No music or video is worth jailtime.
When has that ever happened?
People get SUED for that sort of thing. The Gestapo doesn't come breaking down your door over music or video. They value it about as much as you do.
Re:Rule #1 (Score:3, Insightful)
Can someone moderate this idiot as off topic flamebait?
If you personally dislike TV, that's your business. Other people like TV. We like shows like "How they make that".
You are like an idiot that hears how the 1997 NY city phone book was the most popular book ever published, reads it, then complains that all books are stupid.
Stop telling other people what to enjoy, and live your own life.
Re:Help me steal crap (Score:5, Insightful)
Wrong.
The entire post is can be summurized as:
I was paying for it and they won't let me fucking watch it on my equipment so now I just steal it since apparently pirates can do a better job of getting me what I want to watch FOR FREE than Comcast can manage to pull of while consume copious amounts of my money for the disservice.
Re:Don't try it, it's illegal (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not an elitist.
Yes you are. Telling people with a certain hobby that your hobbies are superior to theirs is the very definition of elitist.
Why not spend that time living your own life, instead of telling other people how to live theirs?
Re:Help me steal crap (Score:5, Insightful)
> There are legitimate gripes about access, copy protection, and copyright issues... but this doesn't come close to any of them.
Sure it does and you're a big fat jackass.
This is about some guy wanting to use the service he's paid for in the way he wants to use it. The service provider will let him use Windows but this guy doesn't want to do that because he finds that it sucks. He can't use alternatives and is stuck using one monopoly product to deal with another.
This whole "we need to encrypt everything" is nonsense. As soon as you paid for it, you should be able to use it however you like.
The path between the cable box and the TV should be all in the clear.
You might be surprised at the # of local channels (Score:2, Insightful)
Due to subchannels each station can broadcast multiple shows at the same time. Because of that there's 100+ OTA channels here in Houston. Sure I don't watch them all (as I don't speak Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese or Farsi) but I didn't watch all the channels available on DirecTV either.
I cut the cord a couple months ago and for shows I can't get over the air I just buy them streaming via Amazon, iTunes, etc. or on blu-ray compilations. I've saved $162 in the past 2 months over what I had been paying DirecTV.
If you're interested, these are my blog entries [atariage.com] about my DVR project.
Re:Problem: The Cable TV Sports Monopoly (Score:4, Insightful)
Then again, I stopped letting TV rot my brain long ago! After all, every hour spent watching TV is an hour not spent playing video games...