stupid ethernet question

if I am violating some forum dictum, please forgive me….just call me a noob and I’ll be on my way

ok, there is a ethernet connection on the back of my cable box….this should be able to be hooked into my ethernet connection on my computer and or network router? but I have no idea the kind of software I would need to make such a thing worthwhile

of course the cable company doesn’t support such items, so therefore can give no information…the guys at radio shack were much too busy watching the simpsons rerun to care about the question, and my own IT guy said he’d look into it and give me any information he finds, which means he forgot it the moment I left his office (after I bribed him with muffins too)

any help here?