Video translation magic

[Michael ODonnell]

Sorta-kinda maybe obliquely related:

  http://arstechnica.com/guides/other/cablecard.ars/1


> CableCARDs have an intriguing pedigree.  They come not from the
> cable industry, but from Congress, which in 1996 passed the massive
> Telecommunications Act and charged the FCC with (among other things)
> creating a more competitive market for third-party set-top boxes (STBs).
> Specifically, section 304 of the law directed the Commission to:
>
>  "assure the commercial availability to consumers of multichannel
>   video programming and other services offered over multichannel video
>   programming systems, of converter boxes, interactive communications
>   equipment, and other equipment used by consumers to access multichannel
>   video programming and other services offered over multichannel video
>   programming systems, from manufacturers, retailers, and other vendors
>   not affiliated with any multichannel video programming distributor."