Windows Media Center protected WTV captures

[naysayer]

I have a "Silicon Dust HD HomeRun Prime" box with a CableCard that I use in place of a Time Warner Cable set top box. It works great with Windows Media Center for TV captures and DVR.

However, it saves into a .WTV container with "copy-once" DRM write protection. I think the DRM is called "PlayReady"? It locks every show recording so that it can only play in the Windows Media Center player on the machine that recorded it.

I have dozens of TV shows that I would like to watch on my laptop instead, but I can't!

I've tried various WTV demuxers and converters on the original recording computer, but they all fail with "content is protected" messages. I also tried avisynth with a directshowsource on the computer that made the recording, hoping the filter chain would load, but all it returns is grey frames.

Does anyone have an ideas on how to play my protected WTV files on another computer, or transcode them on the original computer?

Thanks!

[Wilbert]

Nope, the PlayReady DRM makes those decisions by verifying that playback is occurrring on the same machine that the recording was made on. That information is stored in the PlayReady database, not in the WTV files themselves, so if you did a clean install, the PlayReady database is gone. (In very simple terms, PlayReady takes a fingerprint of the WTV file when the recording is made. When WMC goes to play back a Protected file, it checks the fingerprint in the WTV file, and asks PlayReady whether that fingerprint matches one in the PlayReady database. If it's there, WMC plays the file, if it's not, PlayReady says no, and WMC won't play the file. If you re-install Windows7, or try to restore a system image on a different machine, PlayReady re-initializes it's databases, and throws all those fingerprints away).

You can play back protected recordings even after you uninstall the tuner, as long as the PlayReady Database doesn't change.
source: http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=4493

Looking around on the net it seems you are out of luck. I guess you need to buy HDFury (http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=4493), but i have no experience with it.

[naysayer]

Thanks Wilbert. That's what I figured.

I guess I'd have to play each video out, and re-record into a capture card. What a hassle.

I bet someone out there has cracked the WTV DRM, but is afraid to say so or release it, for fear that the cable companies would then revoke all the CableCards.