MultiChoice may have to share decoder with rivals

[KikzAzz]

@Richard, if ICASA so decree, they can make it illegal for DSTV to stop other providers from reprogramming the DSTV decoder.

Which probably means the end for encrypted recorded videos on the PVR?

 

[KikzAzz]

I can't believe that they actually sold it at a discount. A PVR card for your PC can be purchased for 25% of the cost of the MultiChoice PVR.

In fact I am about to replace my PVR with a Media Centre PC that contains a PVR card. The benefits are:

1. Less buggy software
2. Recorded programs are not encrypted
3. Not limited to the 80Gb hard drive
4. Able to use the Media Centre for other functions as well like Games, Music, DVD Player etc.

 

[Hades]

how are the decoders so heavily subsidised??!! There is an estimated export market of R3.7billion for them. Please multichoice is just as bad as telkom and its about time there was some kinda competition

 

[Khyron]

Although I wholeheartedly agree with most of the previous statements, it can never be a good thing when the government takes it upon themselves to tell you what to do with your intellectual property. It sets a bad president for the future.

Next thing you know kids who do well in school will be forced to have their other classmates look at their exam papers before handing it in, otherwise it won't be fair.

 

[avr-rulez]

hey all

The solution does exist. DO some searching for STB like Dreambox.

Using 1 Dreambox plus 8 in 1 Smart Card interface and Bob's your uncle ( sorry Zim).

How do you think the rest of the world does it? Use open platform STB's.

Yes keep your UEC (puke) box for the EPG.

The prob is that Joe Soap viewer will sit and swallow DSTV ****.

AVR

 

[noemfie]

A bit off topic but rather interesting . I see on Microsoft media room site that telkom is trialling the media room IPTV platform , and from October the xbox 360 will also support media room thus making every xbox 360 in SA a set top box for telkom media .

 

[ic]

I think the area where Multichoice would take issue about opening up their STBs to unrestricted access would be on the software not hardware side.

For instance, the PVR's OS supposedly consists of 3 mil lines of source code. While much of it is the base functional subroutines supplied by OpenTV, a lot of it is custom developed code done by Multichoice as the 'raw' OpenTV OS is more of an SDK than a polished ready to use system.

Multichoice have probably incurred quite substantial software development and maintanance cost, so just allowing others to gain access for free would probably not sit well with them.

While it's impossible to say what !CASA's thinking [if any] is about decoder|STB interoperability, MonoChoice's decoder software is proprietary and obviously protected by copyright, so any attempt [e.g. regulations] by !CASA to force the re-use of MonoChoice's s/w, would violate MonoChoice's copyright and would most likely win a court case in MonoChoice's favour.

Each PayTV operator should have their own s/w to run on decoders|STBs, and that's their problem to solve, now if !CASA requires hardware interoperability, so that a consumer with an existing DSTV decoder can have the s/w changed to that of any of the new PayTV operators, then the new operators are going to be laboured with that R&D time & expense.

hey all

The solution does exist. DO some searching for STB like Dreambox.

Using 1 Dreambox plus 8 in 1 Smart Card interface and Bob's your uncle ( sorry Zim).

Interesting .

 

[psivius]

I for one do not have any room left for even one more box ontop of my set let alone any more AV input connectors to my display (and it has quite a bunch). Also if one is going to have any more than two of these subscriptions then you watching way too much tv and definately need to get a life.

 

[ejbengine]

Although I wholeheartedly agree with most of the previous statements, it can never be a good thing when the government takes it upon themselves to tell you what to do with your intellectual property. It sets a bad president for the future.

Next thing you know kids who do well in school will be forced to have their other classmates look at their exam papers before handing it in, otherwise it won't be fair.

ICASA!=Government. In any case , MultiChoice has the constitutional right to contest this in court(think Microsoft and the anti-trust lawsuit).Basically,it will boil down to what the law says...not what ICASA nor Multichoice says.Just the law...

 

[Syndyre]

ICASA effectively is the government, it should be clear by now that their independence is in name only.

 

[bekdik]

AFAIK Multichoice do subsidise the decoders to a small degree, I think its a couple of hundred rands. Like the PVR costs roughly R3k to buy, but costs about R3400 to make or something like that.

I definately want !CASA to force them not to stop other providers using the same decoder.
Then again, the multichoice decoders are now old technology and I'd prefer to get a decoder that can handle H.264 etc etc etc...

MC's core product is distribution. If people don't have decoders there's nothing to distribute to. Thus if any subsidy exists then it must be put down to cost of sales.

 

[ic]

ICASA!=Government.

I beg to differ: in theory routed in South Africa's Constitution, !CASA is supposed to be independent from guavamint, however in reality, !CASA is simply an extension of the DoC with Poison Ivy influencing !CASA's Councillor appointments as well as holding !CASA's purse strings and then there are those pesky unclarification policies that Poison Ivy decrees and !CASA has to obey...

 

[ejbengine]

I beg to differ: in theory routed in South Africa's Constitution, !CASA is supposed to be independent from guavamint, however in reality, !CASA is simply an extension of the DoC with Poison Ivy influencing !CASA's Councillor appointments as well as holding !CASA's purse strings and then there are those pesky unclarification policies that Poison Ivy decrees and !CASA has to obey...

Yes you may , but then we can't get bogged down on perception based arguments...no one will win

 

[ic]

Yes you may , but then we can't get bogged down on perception based arguments...no one will win

No problemo, you can hold onto your perceptions and I won't argue the reality with you.

 

[risingtide]

In general, cross-subsidation is not looked upon favourably. So why should any PayTV channel be allowed to subsidise the decoder hardware through the content subscription?

The end result is just massive confusion and the impossibility to compare prices, like the cell phone market at the moment.

 

[ejbengine]

No problemo, you can hold onto your perceptions and I won't argue the reality with you.

Oh speak great one speak ...I bow to you ,for you and only you are the sole bearer of the absolute truth

 

[Gatecrasher]

If Multichoice were really smart, they would welcome use of their decoders by other TV services. It is not like they can stop people from having a choice.

If the pay TV market takes off as projected, not only do get to sell a truckload of new decoders, but they will have lowered the economic barriers to their own subscription services to a whole new customer base.

They would be wise to keep their finger in as much of the pie as possible.

 

[BobbyMac]

Multichoice can cry foul until they're purple. Let it not be forgotten that until now, they effectively operated without an official license

 

[StrontiumDog]

Media Centre PC

I can't believe that they actually sold it at a discount. A PVR card for your PC can be purchased for 25% of the cost of the MultiChoice PVR.

In fact I am about to replace my PVR with a Media Centre PC that contains a PVR card. The benefits are:

Specs and price please
Or PM me if u prefer
thanks in advance!

 

[StrontiumDog]

i didn't say they are a charity. yes they are expensive but atleast there is something worthwile to watch every now and again.

I quite enjoy my SABC3 and the odd eTV offering
... when I'm not doing something on my pc that is