[BozemanLUG] Bresnan embracing DRM

[Jeffrey Sharkey]

>From various reports, it seems Bresnan has encrypted almost all of
their digital QAM channels earlier this morning, leaving only a
handful of local channels in the clear.  Others reported that the few
clear HD channels were encrypted about a week ago.

Encrypted QAM at its heart is Digital Restrictions Management (DRM)
which prevents cable subscribers from exercising their fair-use rights
under US copyright law.  It's a proprietary DRM mechanism that clearly
goes against the free and open standards that the open-source
community stands for.

http://defectivebydesign.org/about/

If you are a Bresnan customer, I strongly encourage you to voice your
concern.  Call Bresnan directly at 1-877-273-7626, or contact Winston
Olson, our local Bresnan network engineer.  He doesn't have a direct
line, but you might leave a message with Kelly at 406-443-4909.  Or,
stop by in person at 951 Custer in Helena.

I think I spoke with Winston a few weeks ago, and he assured me that
they would keep channels open as long as possible, but explained that
often their hand is forced by upstream networks.  However, if almost
all channels were encrypted in one sweep, something seems fishy.


-- 
Jeffrey Sharkey
jsharkey at jsharkey.org
http://www.jsharkey.org/