[i.h]

I think the more salient point is that CI modules aren't really designed for that sort of use - they are literally just decryption modules.

I don't think it's fair to say TV manufacturers don't want to support them, nor are they hard to understand if there was a need to use them here. They are widely used in Europe in place of set top boxes, eg. I stayed in a hotel in Switzerland earlier in the year and each TV had a UPC CAM and card and was presumably connected to the local cable network. (ironically I couldn't use it because a previous guest had fiddled with the module and bent the pins in the TV lol). The UK is an outlier in that both Sky and Virgin require their set top box, though ON/ITV digital and Top Up TV did issue CAMs.

But in terms of new UK services, it would make more sense to see a commitment to software upgrades and updates, though I suspect people would balk at not being able to buy a TV for pennies in a supermarket.