The Daily Word 09.22.10: Ninja Attack, Donkey Kong, Your Neighbor Is A Terrorist

The TV companies did it.

Remember when stuff like ReplayTV and Tivo turned analog cable TV from "all these channels and nothing worthwhile on right now" to "hey, there were some good things on today?" Cable TV suddenly became worth a lot more, surely crossing the "it's not worth it" to "it's worth it" threshold for some people. But PVRs wouldn't have even been invented if the signal had DRM. The lack of DRM ended up putting money into the pockets of companies like Comcast (and by extension, their content providers).

Maybe after a few years of telling customers to fuck off, Comcast (or DirectTV or whoever) has changed their mind and wants the money again. The release of the HDCP master key will make it possible to build HDCP-compatible HDMI capture devices (whether they actually appear on the market, remains to be seen) or other innovations that make TV services worth more. If it's worth more, then more people will be willing to pay.

I don't really think the TV companies did it, but if you look at it just in terms of who will gain from it, their financial motive is immense. They've got to be losing droves of customers to piracy, competing internet TV services like Netflix, and probably some good old fashioned "the monthly cable bill just hasn't been worth it, since the switch from analog to digital" abstinence. If HDCP-compatible HDMI capture cards hit the market, cable/satellite TV will become viable contenders again. They'll still face competition but at least they'll be back in the game.