SynchTV & TiVo: Can TiVo use opensource DRM Marlin?

[minckster]

Does anyone know if TiVo can support the opensource DRM that will by used by the upcoming, online, TV-subscription service SyncTV?

Info: http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9819314-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

SyncTV offers themed channels of TV content available for subscription or purchase over the Web. ... So far, the biggest content name that has signed on is Showtime. (emphasis added above)
SyncTV uses an open-source DRM system called Marlin....
Beginning Monday [Nov. 19], the service will open up in private beta only, and will work on Windows or Mac machines.

[wmcbrine]

"Open-source DRM"? Talk about an oxymoron!

[classicsat]

Open source DRM can work, in theory, as long as the users/developers honor and respect it, and keep the keys issued to them private.

As for SyncTV, the video will have to be the format the TiVo can play, or a PC side conversion/server app will need to be made.

[ZeoTiVo]

from the website
SyncTV downloads TV shows rather than streams them, which means you can play your favorite shows wherever you want, with or without an Internet connection.
sounds perfect for TiVoCast and would get the attention of many. Download Showtime on your Series 2 TiVo and forget about a cable box..Sign me up:)

I would hope TiVo is already in talks with Sync TV as a perfect match. As for the DRM, that is a technical detail that I assume could be worked out for a TiVoCast addon.

As for a PC now, the other answers are corrct. You could not use TiVo ToComeBack to copy a DRMed show onto the TiVo. It would have to be an open file in a format TiVo desktop already supports.

[wmcbrine]

Open source DRM can work, in theory, as long as the users/developers honor and respect it, and keep the keys issued to them private.No it can't. Open source encryption can and does work great. But DRM is based on the idea of encrypting something... and then giving everyone the key, together with the encrypted material. The only way it works even temporarily is through obscurity: Only your "trusted app" knows exactly where the key is. In practice, even with closed source implementations, DRM is routinely broken. With open source, how can you hope to hide the key?