Another deadline came and went July 1 as the ban on integrated set-top boxes—those without a separable security system such as a CableCARD—went into effect. Scientific-Atlanta and Motorola say they ...

The ban hammer fell on July 1, 2007. That's the date the FCC set for its "integration ban" to prevent cable TV operators from deploying set-top boxes with integrated decryption and security systems.

CableCARD: sure, one day it might take the world by storm, but right now, the only place it's being deployed en masse is in cable operators' set-top box offerings. Ironically, the card was designed to ...