Who sets DRM

[jrockow]

Martin

That article seems to say that it is the network setting the flag, and Comcast has no control?
That's what Comcast told me.
Do I have that right?

[mvallevand]

Martin

That article seems to say that it is the network setting the flag, and Comcast has no control?
That's what Comcast told me.
Do I have that right?

Over that flag yes. For the true DRM copy flags that would be the cableco because the networks don't control the STB encryption or delivery technology used. In theory the cableco's could have delivered everything by clear QAM.with no need for cable card or even an STB but they want money for each tier of programming and do as little for free as they can to comply with FCC minimum rules.

Here in Canada we don't get anything outside the STB, no clear QAM, no cable card just regular price increases

Martin

[MrReis]

As I understand it: From a technical/implementation standpoint, it is definitely the cable company that sets the specific CCI flags (used to implement DRM protection) on any given channel at any given point in time.

I believe you, but can you provide an on-line reference that proves your statement? The only evidence I could find that supports that the stations (or "broadcasters") do not add the CCI to digital TV signal is from the DTCP web site: "Content owners (such as ... television production companies) license their ... shows for transmission over cable and satellite services. ... All of these digital services ... apply some form of protection for the content" (Dtcp). However, this isn't really strong evidence - it just states that it's the cable companies that add "protection for the content" it doesn't state that the "television production companies" do/can not add the protection.

I too have been talking with Comcast about the MoviePLEX CCI being changed from "copy freely" to "copy once." The final explanation they gave me is "the broadcaster" (STARZ who owns MoviePLEX) changed the CCI on July 26, 2017. Comcast agrees that they have the capability to set the CCI, but they say that in this case they did not, it was the "broadcaster." I would like to have some proof to share with Comcast that the "broadcasters" do/can not set the CCI for their channels.

[pkscout]

I too have been talking with Comcast about the MoviePLEX CCI being changed from "copy freely" to "copy once." The final explanation they gave me is "the broadcaster" (STARZ who owns MoviePLEX) changed the CCI on July 26, 2017. Comcast agrees that they have the capability to set the CCI, but they say that this case they did not, it was the "broadcaster." I would like to have some proof the share with Comcast that the "broadcasters" do/can not set the CCI for their channels.

Honestly, unless you're bored, it would be more effective to beat your head repeatedly against a brick wall than to try and talk to any cable company about the CCI byte. Time Warner has been very consist in saying that yes, they set the CCI byte, but they set it based on contractual obligations. So they do it, but it isn't their fault. I've seen folks asking what will happen due to the Spectrum merger, and it looks like the CCI byte will become the Spectrum standard as existing Time Warner content contracts expire and are renegotiated. Maybe. Or it'll be something else.

[MrReis]

... the networks don't control the STB encryption or delivery technology used.Martin

Do you have a reference that supports for your statement? I was able to find the following, but they are not very strong.

Conditional Access in Digital Video Broadcasting

• "The contents of ECMs and EMMs are not standardized and as such they depend on the conditional access system being used"
  

Conditional-access systems for digital broadcasting

• "The content of ECM is system specific."
  
• "The content of EMM is system specific."
  

Whitepaper: Monitoring Conditional Access Systems

• "The contents of the ECM varies between the different Conditional Access vendors…"
  
• "EMMs are encrypted with a proprietary encryption method known only by the CA vendor. The EMM format is highly Proprietary…"
  

[MrReis]

I finally received definitive information from (of all people) two conscientious Comcast employees about what happened to the CCI for the MoviePLEX and ShowTime Family channels that Comcast (Comcast of California/Colorado/Florida/Oregon Inc.) distributes in my area (Redwood City, CUID CA0205, San Mateo County, PSID 002150).

On 16 AUG 2017 “Jay” (Comcast “Priority Customer Outreach” of the "Executive Customer Relations Team” told me the following in a telephone conversation. On 26 July 2017 Comcast “engineering” deployed Arris CASMR-100 (Conditional Access System Management) software with their existing Arris DAC 6000 (Digital Addressable Controller) back-end content servers (CASMR). Before the CASMR-100 deployment Comcast “engineering” and the Arris Global Services conducted an audit of the existing DAC 6000 system configuration and determined that for my service area the DAC 6000 CCI setting was incorrectly configured to “externally defined” for the MoviePLEX and Showtime Family channels. During the CASMR deployment their CCI setting was changed to “copy once”.

On 17 AUG 2017 “ComcastTeds,” an “Official Employee” wrote (in an Xfinity Help and Support Forums private message):
[INDENT]“Apologies for the delay while the teams looked into this one; my understanding is that you spoke with Jay on this yesterday, but included some information below so you also have it in writing:

An engineering change was made at the end of July to standardize all source names and CCI levels. The channels that you specified (MoviePLEX and Showtime Family) previously had incorrect CCI settings in your area.

Both of these services are now correctly configured for “Copy Once” as their CCI settings. This should allow a DVR, a TiVo, Windows Media Center, or another properly configured DRM device to make a single recording of the programing on their device. The Copy Once setting will however, prevent the programming from being transferred from the original DVR to another device.

While MoviePlex is not an add on service like HBO or Showtime it is still considered a Premium Movie channel and as such adheres to the same CCI flag. This is an intended decision and not an oversight. “[/INDENT]

On 15 AUG 2017 “Robert” (“Executive Customer Relations Team” told me in a telephone conversation that on JUL 26, 2017 the STARZ and ShowTime “broadcasters” changed the CCI on MoviePLEX and Showtime Family in my area to “copy once.” I told “Robert” that the cable companies set the Channel CCI not the “broadcasters.” “Robert” told me that Comcast has the capability to change the CCI for channels, but in this case it wasn’t Comcast that changed the CCI for MoviePLEX and Showtime Family; it was the “broadcasters” of those channels. There is no nice way to put it, but “Robert” lied to me about who changed the CCI for MoviePLEX and Showtime Family on 26 JUL 17.

"Comcast of California IX Inc 2012 Annual Report for Redwood City" that Comcast filed with the FCC Cable Operations and Licencing System (COALS) lists the following classifications for MoviePLEX (on the fifth page of the report): No.: "184", Program Name: "MOVIEPLEX", Type: "8", A/D/H: "D", Tier: E". " Instructions for FCC Form 325, Annual Report of Cable Television Systems," section IV (Channel Line-up), subsection Tier (second page) specifes the following the values for "Tier."

• B Basic
  
• E Cable Programming Services Tier (CPST)/Expanded Basic Tier
  
• P Premium
  
• M Pay Per View
  
• O Other
  

In other words, MoviePLEX is clearly not considered a premium channel by Comcast - at least not by Comcast's compliance department who filed the last Cable System Annual Report with the FCC (Sheila Smith, 215-286-7454). There is no nice way to put it, but “ComcastTeds” lied to me about MoviePLEX being a premium channel. To defend their uninformed decision to change the MoviePLEX CCI to "copy once" Comcast engineering feeds lies to their support staff (who believe them) to give to Comcast's customers in the hopes that they believe them too and just "go away."

On 17 AUG 2017 “ComcastTeds,” an “Official Employee” wrote “While MoviePlex is not an add on service like HBO or Showtime it is still considered a Premium Movie channel.” There is no nice way to put it, but “ComcastTeds” lied to me about MoviePLEX being a premium channel.

What this comes down to is "An engineering change was made at the end of July to standardize all source names and CCI levels." Yes, it clearly was an engineering change made to MoviePLEX's CCI. This change directly conflicts with the view of Comcast's Compliance Department which I would think more closely aligns with the corporate and legal view of Comcast than it does with the beliefs of engineering and support.

I guess the only person I haven't contacted about this is Sheila Smith. I wonder what her story would be.

[MrReis]

In July 2017 STARZ transitioned transmission of MoviePLEX to its affiliates (including Comcast) from SD to HD (link: 2017 HD-Only Signal Transition Important Dates )? However, although Comcast now receives MoviePLEX service from STARZ in HD it chooses to down-convert it to SD for broadcast to it subscribers.

Apparently Arris worked with STARZ affiliates (including Comcast) to ensure affiliates had the correct Arris equipment for the transition to HD. I don’t know, but I guess that because Comcast’s MoviePLEX service from STARZ is now HD, that Arris engineers and/or Comcast engineers involved in this transition concluded that the content must now be “high value” (because it is HD). However, Comcast’s subscribers receive SD MoviePLEX programming because Comcast down-converts it.

I can confirm that in fact the MoviePLEX content I receive from Comcast is SD (not HD). However, the Windows Media Center channel guide shows that almost all MoviePLEX programs are HD, but they are not – all MoviePLEX programs provided by Comcast are SD. Where does the information in WMC EPG come from? I know it comes from Rovi (link: TV Listings | Rovi ), but where does Rovi get this bogus information?

The HD MoviePLEX content that STARZ transmits to Comcast may be “high value.” However, the SD MoviePLEX content that Comcast broadcasts to it subscribers is not “high value.” Why is the MoviePLEX CCI “copy once?”

[scJohn]

Comcast when changing one of their plants over from MPEG2 to MPEG4 also converts any channel that is 1080I to 720P. They do this so that they can squeeze one more channel per QAM. God only knows what they will do if 4K ever hold inthe TV industry.

As to who sets the CCI flag. It's either by contractual obligation between the content owner and the cable company. Or because the cable company felt like doing it. If the CCI flag is NOT negotiated in the contract, the cable company can do what ever it want to regarding the CCI flag and a channel (except for local channels).

[MrReis]

... If the CCI flag is NOT negotiated in the contract, the cable company can do what ever it want to regarding the CCI flag ...

Wikipedia almost agrees with your statement. Wikipedia states “… non-premium subscription programming can be set to either Copy Once or Copy Freely. This is determined by the cable television provider …”
Link: Copy Control Information

Wikipedia’s statement about the application of the CCI flag almost agrees with the reference they site for it: “Page 30 (in section V. Encoding Rules; subsection D Limits on Copy Protection Encoding ) of the FCC Plug and Play agreement” which states “(Cable companies) would remain free to negotiate with content providers for any level of encoding that falls below or is equal to the applicable cap for the relevant programming category, which is referred to in the draft rules as a ’Defined Business Model.’”

The “FCC Plug and Play agreement” is actually a FCC “report and order” for proposed rules for the direct connection of digital “navigation devices” to cable television and other multichannel video programming distributor (“MVPD”) systems. When the stake holders agreed to the “report” (pages 1 to 40), the FCC issued the “order” (pages 41 to 86) to amend the Code of Federal Regulations to comply with the intent of the report.
Link: FCC Plug and Play Order

Pages 51 to 60 of the (above referenced) FCC Plug and Play Report and Order specifies how the CFR, Title 47, Chapter 1, Subchapter C, Part 76 must be amended to include Subpart W – Encoding Rules (Parts 76.1901 to 76.1908). Page 55 specifies the wording of Part 76.1904 Encoding Rules for Defined Business Modes which maps to page 30, report section V.D, Limits on Copy Protection Encoding. Unfortunately, the wording “(Cable companies) would remain free to negotiate with content providers for any level of encoding that falls below or is equal to the applicable cap for the relevant programming category” in this section of the report did not make it in to the Code of Federal Regulations 76.1904.

§76.1904 Encoding Rules for Defined Business Models
(a) Commercial Audiovisual Content delivered as Unencrypted Broadcast Television shall not be Encoded so as to prevent or limit copying thereof by Covered Products or, to constrain the resolution of the image when output from a Covered Product.
(b) Except for a specific determination made by the Commission pursuant to a petition with respect to a Defined Business Model other than Unencrypted Broadcast Television, or an Undefined Business
Model subject to the procedures set forth in §76.1906:
(1) Commercial Audiovisual Content shall not be Encoded so as to prevent or limit copying thereof except as follows:
(i) to prevent or limit copying of Video-on-Demand or Pay-Per-View transmissions, subject to the requirements of paragraph (b)(2) of this section; and
(ii) to prevent or limit copying, other than first generation of copies, of Pay Television Transmissions, Non-Premium Subscription Television, and Free Conditional Access Delivery transmissions; and
(2) With respect to any Commercial Audiovisual Content delivered or transmitted in form of a Video-on-Demand or Pay-Per-View transmission, a Covered Entity shall not Encode such content so as to prevent a Covered Product, without further authorization, from pausing such content up to 90 minutes from initial transmission by the Covered Entity (e.g., frame-by-frame, minute-by-minute, megabyte by megabyte).

Page 33 of the Plug and Play Report and Order states “Although Starz Encore acknowledges that it remains free to negotiate with content providers and MVPDs for copy once status, it asserts that as a practical matter the negotiating power of content providers will force the marketplace adoption of the most restrictive treatment possible under each cap” So according to STARZ it is the cable companies that want to use the most restrictive CCI allowed under the law not the copyright owners of the content. That is what I have thought all along.

[mvallevand]

That old FCC order was rejected anyway.

Martin