jeh@ritcv.UUCP (Jim Heliotis) (01/21/85)
My cable company is going to start some new pay services, and will be
doing something called "addressing" which authenticates the receiver,
and allows it to receive the special channel(s). They claim it will cut
down on the possibility of stealing the channel. It sounded to me
(from this radio news blurb) that something in the home will TRANSMIT
to the cable office.
Is this true? Does anyone know more?
Please post to the net. This is interesting (boy, will I get flames for
that line!).
Jim Heliotis
{allegra,seismo}!rochester!ritcv!jeh
rocksvax!ritcv!jeh
ritcv!jeh@Rochesterrfish@ihlpm.UUCP (Bob Fishell) (01/23/85)
> My cable company is going to start some new pay services, and will be > doing something called "addressing" which authenticates the receiver, > and allows it to receive the special channel(s). They claim it will cut > down on the possibility of stealing the channel. It sounded to me > (from this radio news blurb) that something in the home will TRANSMIT > to the cable office. > > Is this true? Does anyone know more? > There are a variety of video systems that could work. One method does employ an in-receiver transmitter which sends a signal back to the distribution point. This is used mainly for pay-per-view billing, though. Another method places a device inside the receiver that contains a unique code burned into a PROM. If you are a legit subscriber, the cable company broadcasts a signal that will activate your receiver and yours alone to receive pay channels. This is best used in conjunction with an unscrambler. ON TV, an over-the-air pay TV service in Chicago, uses this method to turn on and off its unscramblers during its pay-per-view events and its nightly, extra-charge porno broadcasts. Coupling an in-receiver transmitter with a PROM-coded activation scheme might provide a way of handshaking between transmitter and receiver. However, the cable companies are never going to be able to stop signal theft without going digital and using some sophisticated crypto techniques for their programs. This won't happen for years. In the mean time, all they can do is make it a little tougher for the pirates. -- Bob Fishell ihnp4!ihlpm!rfish
erik@ssc-vax.UUCP (Erik Strom) (01/24/85)
> My cable company is going to start some new pay services, and will be > doing something called "addressing" which authenticates the receiver, > and allows it to receive the special channel(s). They claim it will cut > down on the possibility of stealing the channel. It sounded to me > (from this radio news blurb) that something in the home will TRANSMIT > to the cable office. > > Is this true? Does anyone know more? > > Please post to the net. This is interesting (boy, will I get flames for > that line!). > > Jim Heliotis > {allegra,seismo}!rochester!ritcv!jeh > rocksvax!ritcv!jeh > ritcv!jeh@Rochester It's true. The converter that was installed for me IS addressable by the cable company from their site. It's apparrently called at least once a day to verify that it's pay channel authorization matches the one on file. My unit also has a button to choose between "Cable A" and "Cable B". Another feature they promised me was the ability to authorize occasional events for a fee, such as Sonics basketball games, although there hasn't been any announcement about invoking this service. "He's handsome, he's intelligent, he's funny, he's cuddly, he's loving, but, he's also out, so leave your name and number at the tone..." From the lair of the Big E Erik !uw-beaver!ssc-vax!erik
dwl10@amdahl.UUCP (Dave Lowrey) (01/24/85)
> My cable company is going to start some new pay services, and will be > doing something called "addressing" which authenticates the receiver, > and allows it to receive the special channel(s). They claim it will cut > down on the possibility of stealing the channel. It sounded to me > (from this radio news blurb) that something in the home will TRANSMIT > to the cable office. > > Is this true? Does anyone know more? > There are two basic types of addreaasble converters: 1 POLLED: The computer at the cable company's office will poll,(or ask) each converter in the system. The converter will then send back information such as what chanell you're watching (shades of BIG BROTHER), if you have pushed any special buttons, or even if the TV set is on. This is used alot in pay-per-view situations. QUBE uses this system. 2 DOWN LOADED: Every n seconds, the cable company's computer will tell your converter which channels you are allowed to watch. The converter will unscramble only those channels. Pay per view is acomplished by you telling the company that you want to watch that prize fight on saturday night, they will tell the computer to OK it, and they will bill your account. Both of these schemes are hard to defeat if they use any inteligent methods for scrambling the pay signals. Since they (translate you) have payed the big bucks for the addressing system, you can assume that they also have a smart scrambler/de-scrambler. -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dave Lowrey "GORT...Klatu borada niktow" ...!{nsc,sun,hplabs,ihnp4}!amdahl!dwl10 [ The opinions expressed <may> be those of the author and not necessarily those of his most eminent employer. ]
doug@terak.UUCP (Doug Pardee) (01/25/85)
> My cable company is going to start some new pay services, and will be > doing something called "addressing" which authenticates the receiver, > and allows it to receive the special channel(s). They claim it will cut > down on the possibility of stealing the channel. It sounded to me > (from this radio news blurb) that something in the home will TRANSMIT > to the cable office. Addressing is really quite simple. Each decoder box has a magic number built into it (like a serial number). The cable company transmits on each channel (I presume in the blanking, but I don't know) the numbers of those boxes which are authorized to decode that channel. This transmission is continuous. It takes a noticeable (a second or so) amount of time to cycle through all of the numbers, so there is a variable delay from the time you tune in to a channel until the time your decoder receives the OK to descramble it for you. -- Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{hao,ihnp4,decvax}!noao!terak!doug
karn@petrus.UUCP (01/28/85)
> Addressing is really quite simple. Each decoder box has a magic number > built into it (like a serial number). The cable company transmits on > each channel (I presume in the blanking, but I don't know) the numbers > of those boxes which are authorized to decode that channel. This > transmission is continuous. It takes a noticeable (a second or so) > amount of time to cycle through all of the numbers, so there is a > variable delay from the time you tune in to a channel until the time > your decoder receives the OK to descramble it for you. > -- > Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{hao,ihnp4,decvax}!noao!terak!doug Actually, the boxes are not addressed that often. The box retains its state until it loses power. After the power comes back on you have to wait for your box to be re-addressed before it will again receive the pay channels you've signed up for. The data channel is on its own frequency, often in the FM broadcast band. If you listen on an FM receiver often you can hear this addressing signal which sounds like a high pitched buzzing sound. Phil