[vdr] Re: Child protection / access control module

[Klaus Schmidinger <Klaus.Schmidinger@cadsoft.de>]

Harald Milz wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> is anyone working on an access control mechanism for the VDR player? I have
> two little children at home who I would like to see only specific channels
> at specific times. It should be fairly easy to implement something which
> controls this depending on the user who authenticates her/himself. I don't
> mean log in to the machine itself but to vdr.

I hope to be able to finish VDR version 1.2.0 over the holidays, so there's
no more time for this before that. But this is something I'm planning to do
in version 1.3.x.

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...

- 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

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?

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

Klaus
-- 
_______________________________________________________________

Klaus Schmidinger                       Phone: +49-8635-6989-10
CadSoft Computer GmbH                   Fax:   +49-8635-6989-40
Hofmark 2                               Email:   kls@cadsoft.de
D-84568 Pleiskirchen, Germany           URL:     www.cadsoft.de
_______________________________________________________________


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