Why Can't I buy a cablecard ready set top box?

Al E Usse writes: "Ars Technica does a write up of the problems that haven't been solved by the July 1, 2007 integration ban on integrated security in your cable box. Three months after the ban went into effect, digging up a third-party, CableCARD-ready set-top box can be an exercise in hair-pulling frustration. The companies who make the boxes don't seem interested in selling to consumers, cable companies still push their own branded devices, and Best Buy employees... well, the less said the better. We've heard the pain of our readers on this issue. One of them described his own epic (and fruitless) quest to secure such a device. His conclusion? "Although I should be able to buy a set-top box of my own, nobody will sell me one. I am standing on the doorstep, wad of cash in hand, yelling, 'Please take my money! I want to buy!' but am turned away."

I certainly want to buy!

[HTH NE1]

The current offering from Time Warner Cable of their mystro software prevents me from using all the features of the TiVo connected to it.

If I dare try to change the channel at precisely the time that guide data is updated on the channel I am leaving, the box may fail to change channels, change to the wrong channel, or even crash. Every recording I make has to be padded by at least one minute start and end to avoid this bug, even back-to-back recordings on the same channel. (Networks shifting start and end