[mythtvnz] Sky->smart card reader->MythTV ???

[Aaron Whitehouse]

yuri wrote:
> Cut the paranoia.
> If it's not mentioned in the Terms and Conditions then it's not a problem.
> If the ToC does forbid it, it's a contractual matter, not a criminal matter.
> Pay TV providers are not legislators.

Haha... if only that were true.  This isn't legal advice, but in a
one-line summary, the issue is with "Technological Protection Measures":
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1994/0143/latest/DLM346899.html?search=ts_act_copyright_resel#DLM346899
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1994/0143/latest/DLM1705876.html?search=ts_act_copyright_resel

"A person (A) must not provide a service to another person (B) if—
(a) A intends the service to enable or assist B to circumvent a
technological protection measure; and
(b) A knows or has reason to believe that the service will, or is likely
to, be used to infringe copyright in a TPM work."

"A person (A) must not publish information enabling or assisting another
person to circumvent a technological protection measure if A intends
that the information will be used to infringe copyright in a TPM work."

Even that is not that straight-forward.  What constitutes infringing
copyright is really wide when it comes to time-shifting and format-shifting:
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1994/0143/latest/DLM346229.html?search=ts_act_copyright_resel#DLM346229
may help as only those with "lawful access" to Sky could use the
techniques and they are likely to use it for time-shifting.

As with all these things, even if you get legal advice on the point and
think you are okay, are you going to risk it for helping strangers on a
mailing list?  It certainly isn't the first time that DRM etc. has been
used to protect monopolies and stifle competition.

Welcome to NZ's DMCA.

Regards,

Aaron