[vdr] Re: Child protection / access control module

[Andreas Mair <Andreas.Mair@linogate.com>]

Hi,

On Friday 20 December 2002 14:41, Klaus Schmidinger wrote:
> I guess there are a few basic things that need to be considered before
> implementing this. For instance, should there be separate PINs for each
> operation, like "modifying the setup", "setting/deleting timers",
> "deleting recordings", "watching age restricted channels/recordings"
> etc., or should there be _one_ PIN for each user, which can be assigned
> various "rights"? I believe the latter would be better, since each user
> would only have to memorize _one_ PIN and the system administrator could
> set him/her up with whatever VDR uses access control for. From the top of
> my head I can think of things like "Your PIN gives you the right to...

Fully agree, assigning rights should be the way go IMHO.

> - modify timers
> - modify the setup
> - access things restricted to "age >= N years" (N = 6, 12, 16, 18; this
> can be favourite channel lists, individual broadcasts (provided their EPG
> data includes age information), or recordings (provided the EPG data at
> the time of the recording contained age info) - execute commands
> - anything else we could think of

+ enableing/disabling plugins (just think of DVD, MPlayer and (S)VCD 
playback)
+ recordings should only be viewable if the recorded channel is allowed for 
the current user.

> What concerns me the most is: when should the PIN be checked?
> Clearly it should be checked, for instance, when a recording is selected
> for playback that has some age restriction. That would be a one time
> check at the start, and that's it. But what if the user wants to zap
> though the channels? should there be a PIN check every time a channel
> with an age restricted programme is encountered? I guess that might make
> zapping a bit tedious... So, should there be a "timeout" for the
> "validity" of an authorization? Like, if you have entered your PIN you
> may switch channels until you stay with a specific channel for a certain
> amount of time. After that you'll need to re-authenicate yourself. What
> if you switch to an age restricted programme and then turn off the tv
> (and leave VDR running)? The next person who turns on the tv would be
> able to see the restricted programme without authorization. So, should an
> authorization only be valid as long as the current programme runs?

Maybe some login/logout based approach? With some timeout?

> I hope this helps to put this thread back on a more technical basis ;-)

Hopefully, because that's no education ML ;-)

Regards,
Andreas


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