CCI Byte to be reversed!!!!!

[hurnik]

Just got a call from Roy @ TW Albany

Starting next week (hopefully, this is tentative) they will begin setting pretty much all channels to copy freely (obviously PPV, VOD, etc. will not be set to copy freely and channels with specific contracts prohibiting this as well).

So hopefully starting next week we'll start seeing 0x00 or whatever it is.

He said it may take them a few weeks to do all 500+ channels (apparently each channel has to be done one at a time, and for each "ad zone" and there's 5 zones).

So thanks to Roy for doing this!!!!

[Skaggs]

No F'n Way!!!

A loud "wooohooo!" can be heard from all over the Capital District. Well, maybe only from the 15 or so of us that use cable cards in our TiVo's.

Hurnik, you are the cci byte savior and soon-to-be god in the TiVoCommunity!

[Skaggs]

Did TWC give a reason for their change of policy?

What is the reason for their change?

For those of you unfamiliar with the CCI Byte, it is a code TWC inserts into the TV show transmission signal that enables or disables copying. TiVo interprets this "code" and depending on the value, will enable or prohibit Multi-room viewing (sending a program from one tivo in your house to another) and Tivo-To-Go (sending the program from your TiVo to your computer).

A better, more technical, description can be found here.

Digital Signal Copy Protection Policies for TiVo Series3 and TiVo HD DVRs

The TiVo Series3 and TiVo HD DVRs are compliant Digital Cable Receiver (DCR) devices which use CableCARD™ to receive high quality digital cable content in its native form. Since the Series3 and TiVo HD DVRs are DCR devices, in addition to the Macrovision rules for analog content, they must also comply with the content protection policies for Digital Cable content. These copy protection rules vary by content type, and in general, premium and pay channels will have more restrictive rules.
CableCARDs display copy protection for the current channel(s) as CCI bytes. The following CCI byte values affect only digital content:

0x00 - Copy freely - Content is not copy protected. This is the only CCI value that allows content to be transferred via multi-room viewing (MRV) or TiVoToGo™ transfers .

0x01 - Copy No More - Internally, TiVo DVRs treat this the same as 0x02

0x02 - Copy Once - The DVR can make a recording, but can't transfer it via MRV or TiVotoGo transfers.

0x03 - Copy Never - the content can be recorded and viewed for 90 minutes after transmission, and is not transferrable. Content disappears from the Now Playing list after 90 minutes.

Additional CCI values put restrictions on both digital and analog content:

0x04 - Content is Copy Once for digital output, but would have Macrovision 7 Day Unlimited restriction applied on the analog outputs. This affects content viewed either on an HDTV with component cabling or on a standard definition TV. It also affects content saved to VCR or DVD when the recorder is connected to an analog output on the DVR.

0x07 - Content is Copy Never for digital content (deleted after 90 minutes) and Macrovision 7 day/24 hour for content recorded from analog channels. Content cannot be transferred via TiVoToGo transfers or MRV, and cannot be saved to VCR or DVD.

To view the CCI byte value for a channel:

1.Tune to the channel in Live TV.
2.Press the TiVo button to go to the TiVo Central® screen and then select Messages & Settings, then Account and System Information, and then Diagnostics.
3.Check the Channel value for Tuner 1, which is on the first page of the Diagnostics screen. If you do not see the one you want, use the CHANNEL DOWN button to scroll to the information for Tuner 2.
4.Once you find the channel number, look below it for the CCI byte setting.
Note: If the CCI Byte setting is N/A, the channel is analog.
.WARNING: Your cable provider must pair (bind) the CableCARD to its slot in the TiVo DVR before you can view content with any CCI value other than 0x00.

[peekb]

Holy crap. I don't believe it!

[hurnik]

Roy didn't really mention the reason other than Corporate gave him the approval to change the items.

I'm not sure if the CiC "assistance" or possibly other issues were involved. To be honest, I was too afraid to ask and was just grateful that something was going to be done.

I'm still pinching myself.

Now I have an excuse to buy another TivoHD

[Skaggs]

I wonder I my tweet to @jefftwc last week asking him to provide a copy of TWC's corporate policy on setting the CCI byte started things rolling? It seems it was a convenient excuse for the local TWC offices to say it was a "corporate policy" to set the CCI byte as 0x02. Corporate must have recently sent a notice to the local TWC offices informing them it was their decision.

Thanks to Hurnik contacting Albany TWC and getting a hold of "Roy" to explain the cable-in-the-classrooms defense, we got some movement on the issue. I know m_jonis was a strong advocate, too. You can read his posts on the CCI byte at the TiVoCommunity.com forums.

While we are patting ourselves on the back, we should take time to point out that the CCI byte change hasn't actually happened yet. We all know about empty promises from TWC, but this news and the addition of 23 new HD channels in the last 8 days has been encouraging, to say the least.

[Chris Miller]

I had a couple of calls on my answering machine from Roy about the CCI Flag. I had not contacted TWC Albany directly. I had emailed TW Corporate and sent a tweet to @jefftwc.

This is good news indeed. Now if we could just get BBCA HD....

[southpaw]

This is a good sign for the Hudson Valley Timewarner region. They started the SDV conversion today. Call from James Manchesters office said that CCI Flag settings are at discretion of local head end engineer now.


I have no clue who our head end engineer.

Is Roy the Albany Head End Engineer?


Have you guys gotten a copy of the Albany Head End disclosure?

[Skaggs]

Saw this post by dlfl at TiVoCommunity:

Interesting encounter with TWC guy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I ended up on the phone with a guy from TWC National Cable Card Support due to a problem I had with my Tuning Adapter.

He was competent and friendly. After he fixed my problem, I took the opportunity to ask him if he knew anything about the CCI Byte protection issue. I told him about the campaign (this thread) and he said "Aha, that's why your name sounded familiar!". He said they (Cable Card Support) had been doing technical research on the issue the last day or so and were now waiting for further guidance from headquarters (who presumably are looking at the business and legal aspects). He confirmed that it has been national policy and then I mentioned that I heard TWC Albany was already unprotecting their system. He said he had heard about that but did not know if it was really happening.

The scary thought I have is that the head office, after rehashing the issue, may decide to stick to the orignal national policy and then instruct Albany to revert to copy protection.

SO NOW WOULD BE THE TIME TO GET THOSE EMAILS IN GUYS !!!!

[hurnik]

I don't remember Roy's title (I didn't want to post his last name and whatnot).

That doesn't sound good about the National Corporate doing that (I'll have to check the Tivo community as well).

But we'll see.

[southpaw]

As of this morning 10/10/2009 Channel 713 – PBS HD and 715 – Discovery HD are now copy freely in the TWC Hudson Valley Region. I will check other channels but most are still Copy once. I called and TWC HVR still won’t discuss the CCI Flag.

[hurnik]

I checked channel 4, and 20 on my TivoHD and they are 0x00 now as well. I didn't check the others (I had removed those channels since the "digital" version was available). I think the next higher up one I checked was maybe 215? That was still 0x02.