3 ms·

On the contrary, I struggle to think of "nefarious" goals.

• jeroenhd 4y ago
  Many of these SBCs are programmed in stupid ways. For example, there was a whole subforum on a popular Dutch site that was shut down because it turned out the way ISPs make you pay for premium channels is to... not encrypt them in any special way and hide them in the front end. This was all configured through a JSON file over an unencrypted protocol. The whole project began because people wanted to record their shows onto the disabled USB drive, and ended up exposing trivial ways to get around subscription limitations. People immediately MitM'd these devices to get unlimited free bonus stuff, and the forum was copyright struck to hell. These devices are programmed so badly that once you give any user any modicum of control over them, you can bypass almost every restriction your TV provider can think of. Modify one or two files and you've got an excellent piracy box. Personally, I think this whole situation is terrible and I think that it's up to providers to fix their shitty DRM, but legally speaking these boxes don't become your property.
  • bornfreddy 4y ago
    Do you have the name of the forum maybe?