Capturing From An Ethernet cable?

[superdud1400]

Ok so i have Direct tv and i plugged in an ethernet cable into it and into my computer and this is what popped up

http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/1994/63075662gi7.jpg

Is there anyway to like extract recorded programs or view live tv?

[yoda313]

Check to see if it has a firewire connection. High def dvr's usually do. If it does than you can do realtime transfers using capdvhs. However many channels will be encrypted and uneditable, even nonpremium channels.

You can also look into capture devices that can accept component cable inputs if this is a high def receiver.

The only other option is to use either svideo or composite cables and copy that way. Chances are the only reason the device has an ethernet connection is for internet updates for the program guides instead of using a phone line. Or some other "future" service that hasn't been implemented yet. But I think you will find there are practically 0 dvr or cable/sat boxes that would allow a file transfer over an ethernet cable. And even if you could the files would still be encrypted and need to be stripped.