Why is everything on the dvr now copy protected?

Where are you located?

Did this just change recently?  Most Cox markets are all Copy Once except Locals,

I sure wish Cox would lift this restriction, only Time Warner and Brighthouse are as restricted as Cox.

Cox Reps keep claiming it is part of their contract agreements with providers,  I cannot believe that, as Comcast and FiOS only protect Premium channels.  And the fact that there are a few Cox markets that do not use Copy Once.

Do Comcast and FiOS pay higher fees to providers by not using Copy Protection?  I highly doubt that is the case.

As of this afternoon all of the programs that I recorded on the DVRs saved for personal copies to be copied on to DVDs are now copy protected, everything! This is against the FCC rules that allows copy once. I also btw have recordings to only to view, so it's not as if it is all for copying that's on the DVRs.

San Diego, South.  

I assumed you were using a CableCARD and a TiVo or WMC.  I guess not.

San Diego to my knowledge has always been Copy Once or CCI Byte 0x02

What is the Model of the DVR and is it the Rovi Guide or the Contour Guide.

Playback through composite A/V connections should not have any copy protection,  unless Cox is passing the CGMS copy protection, which should not be applied to Digital Broadcasts.

There are reports that Cisco CableCARD OS Vers PKEY1.5.3_F.p.1101 incorrectly handles the CGMS copy protection,

as far as I know Cox is still using OS Vers PKEY1.5.3_F.p.0601

Can You check the OS Vers of your CableCARD in the DVR Diagnostics.

I am not using CableCard. I am using DVRs: 8300, 8642 and 9865. I called the tech and all they would say was that they don't support it, meaning I guess that they don't control the flag to don't copy. I use component cable from the DVD recorder to the TV but composite cables from the DVRs to the DVD Recorder. It has worked for years and now it just will not record. What is CGMS CP?

See the following:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CGMS-A

Here is the info on PKEY1.5.3_F.p.1101 incorrectly handling the CGMS copy protection, although you would need to check your CC OS Ver to see if Cox SD is using the firmware, I don't believe they are, check your DVR Diagnostics to see.
http://forums.comcast.com/t5/XfinityTV-and-Equipment/Cisco-Firmware-1-5-3-1101/m-p/1967519/thread-id/93096