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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mm1352000" data-source="post: 1159792" data-attributes="member: 82144">Okay.The purpose of a tuning adaptor is to enable TW to provide more digital channels.Okay.The one word answer is "yes".In prior years cable providers were obliged by law (FCC) to carry local channels "in the clear" (unencrypted). That's clear QAM. A year or two ago the FCC recinded that obligation and so cable providers are now increasingly encrypting all their channels. Encryption is a "binary" thing - either a channel is encrypted, or it's not. On top of encryption there are additional permissions/restrictions which some people refer to as DRM. DRM is not a "binary" (yes/no) thing. There are levels:<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copy_Control_Information" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copy_Control_Information</a>All CableCARD-supporting PC software supports receiving encrypted "copy freely" content. Note I say content instead of channels because the cable providers could set the CCI/DRM on a per-program basis if they wanted to. As far as I'm aware, WMC is the only PC software I'm aware of that can receive encrypted "copy once" content.In principle any software has the potential to receive copy once content like WMC. The reason they don't is probably mostly related to money.Receiving copy once content requires CableLabs to certify that your product implements all the required restrictions (eg. a recording created on one computer can't be played on another computer). Implementing the required restrictions involves significant development effort (software development is costly <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /> ). On top of that, CableLabs' testing and certification regime is also <a href="http://www.cablelabs.com/specs/certification/" target="_blank">relatively costly</a>. It appears that HTPC software vendors have decided that the costs aren't justifiable. For an organisation like MediaPortal which survives on donations, getting certified is completely out of the question.In MediaPortal's case there's an additional reason. In order to get certification for receiving copy once content, we would almost certainly have to close off access to MediaPortal's source code. Closing access to that code would be going against the founding principles of our "open source" community - openness, transparency, co-operation etc.Hope that explanation aids your understanding. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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