Obtaining my own HD setup box

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I am a new customer for HDTV digital cable and am unhappy with the search capabilities of the set top box that they gave me. It does not allow me to find stations by category and when I search for a program, it does not allow me to filter out programs that are currently not playing. I called up to inquire about obtaining my own box and they instructed me that they would not activate it if I got one. My two questions are as follows:

1. Does section 629 of the Telecommunications act require Brighthouse Networks to allow me to obtain my own box for use with their service? Does this also apply to my cable modem?
2. If I get my own box from a different provider such as Motorola, will it have the same user interface or potentially a better one?