MeanMachine

Thanks for the replies people. I think I have figured out what I was looking for.

The question about the lack of opensource code for ciplushelper plugin stems from the comparison with softcams. I think there is a subtle but important difference between the two situations though. Softcams can (and are) used by many people to watch their pay-TV subscriptions in E2 receivers. Sharing over LAN using softcams is common too. Both of these activities are legal at least in some countries. The firmware in CI+ CAM on the other hand is made to be used with (a subset of) CI+ certified devices since its inception. Consequently, any code which will enable the usage of these CAMs in any other receiver will essentially be used for "illegal" activities in all the countries. It does not matter whether the opensource code contains the illegally acquired certificates or not.

As I understand it, the ciplushelper plugin and related code works in a symbiotic relationship with the drivers and other code provided by the box manufacturers. Given this, any code development to make CI+ CAMs work in their receivers will inevitably result in legal action against the manufacturers. Hence they won't be willing to overtly help with the development, and any traces of this help will be necessarily kept secret. Releasing the sources might mean that manufactures would have nowhere to hide.

It's a pity we are in this situation. This might very well be the beginning of end of the use of E2 receivers as we know it. I might be (and I hope I am) wrong though.

-- but was removed on request of some manufacturers

 

-- 1, 2 and 3 can not be considered illegal

These two statements sound like contradicting each other. If it was not illegal, why was the request honored?

Also, are you referring to two different manufacturers? In the first case, the manufacturers of E2/Linux receivers. And in the second, CI+ host manufacturers (the ones who requested the code removal)?

I'm bumping an old thread, but the issue seems to be still alive. I went through this thread twice to understand the background, but still not getting a few things.

I'm in a similar situation to the one mentioned in post #253. The CAM works in the officially recommended TVs and (surprisingly) Edision Piccollo box. But gives an error at the time of initialization in E2/Linux receivers. After unpacking the ipk of ciplushelper plugin, the "illegal" certificates are found there in open. Which confuses me since these certificates are the ones which keep the ciplushelper code from getting incorporated in mainstream enigma2/PLi.

Also, if the certificates are the secrets here, then why is the plugin released as a "binary blob" instead of making the code public?

What am I missing?

Thanks Erik for the detailed explanation. I was away for a few weeks hence a late reply.

For anyone who stumbles upon this thread later on: I needed to use "cheap USB sticks" to dump the required data. I'm still not sure whether it is a limitation of the drivers provided by Formuler for F4 turbo or something missing in OpenPLi/Enigma2 implementation.

Thanks Pr2!

I'm learning the intricacies of DVB and MPEG-TS at the same time as well, so my understanding is improving as I experiment more with dvbsnoop. Currently trying to figure out the following:

1. Does one 'Program_map_PID' value correspond to one service (TV channel)?
2. How can PAT/PMT information be used to record/dump raw TS of a particular PID?
3. In what respect will this raw TS be different from the one recorded by OpenPLi by pressing the record button on remote control?
4. Will this raw TS be different from the ones which are supported by "cheap USB sticks" as mentioned by athoik in post #2?

Any help is appreciated!