Let's not pretend about the intentions of CableCARD.
They were intended to satisfy the FCCs desire for open access to cable networks for CE companies without forcing the cable companies to actually provide open access.
What the FCC and consumers want is to be able to buy and use flexible, innovative gear on their cable networks. Not just DVRs... gear that can use the cable signal to do truly special things, cheaply, and without having to beg the cable company to support it.
The cable companies have no intention of letting that happen. CableCARD was merely the first of many steps towards that goal, and that one step took 10 years of fighting to win. And even now, the cable companies are doing their level best to make sure it doesn't get off the ground by sealing CableCARDs in with boxes and by stifling approval of CableCARD devices.
So CableCARD has been a success... just not for consumers.
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Let's not pretend about the intentions of CableCARD.
They were intended to satisfy the FCCs desire for open access to cable networks for CE companies without forcing the cable companies to actually provide open access.
What the FCC and consumers want is to be able to buy and use flexible, innovative gear on their cable networks. Not just DVRs... gear that can use the cable signal to do truly special things, cheaply, and without having to beg the cable company to support it.
The cable companies have no intention of letting that happen. CableCARD was merely the first of many steps towards that goal, and that one step took 10 years of fighting to win. And even now, the cable companies are doing their level best to make sure it doesn't get off the ground by sealing CableCARDs in with boxes and by stifling approval of CableCARD devices.
So CableCARD has been a success... just not for consumers.