'Free TV boxes for NTL customers'

This is interesting. Like a lot of people, I've heard countless stories over the past few months about a "box" that "this guy I know sells and installs" which "gives you all the pay TV channels" for free (once you have subscribed to NTL's basic service). They call them Dreamboxes, Starviews and Nokia D-Boxes.

This guy seems to sell and install them for €250, though I've heard cheaper.

On Monday, there were reports in the papers and online of a company called Aertec that was successfully sued for €40,000 by Sky for providing hotels (including the Mercer Group) with Sky TV access for nothing. But is buying one actually illegal for a punter?

Comments

[Justin Mason]

There was a discussion just today about this on the Irish Linux User's Group mailing list -- well, about this and many other related topics regarding the state of Irish television. Well worth a read.

this authoritative post, http://www.linux.ie/lists/pipermail/ilug/2007-October/095238.html , states:

'The laws regarding Cable TV are over draconian. If you connect a
decoder box without permission or without additional subscription,
you are automatically deemed to have stolen the service. Aiding such
activity or preventing investigation of it is an offence here which is OTT.'

'>> Almost all the non-cable company equipment used (Setboxes, DVB-c cards
>> etc) in Ireland is used to obtain TV without payment, officially "theft
>> of service" rather than piracy.'

[Adrian]

So, this one of the statutes under which it appears to be illegal to use (or indeed sell) the Dreambox, if I'm reading it right...

Broadcasting Act, 1990:

9.—(1) No person, other than a duly authorised officer of the Minister, shall, in relation to a service provided by a licensee or a service provider—

( a ) intercept the service,

( b ) suffer or permit or do any other thing that enables such interception by any person,

( c ) possess, manufacture, assemble, import, supply, or offer to supply, any equipment which is designed or adapted to be used for the purpose of enabling such interception by any person, or

( d ) publish information with the intention of assisting or enabling any person to intercept such a service.

(2) No person shall—

( a ) knowingly instal or attempt to instal or maintain any equipment which is capable of being used or designed or adapted to be used for the purpose of enabling such interception by any person, or

( b ) wilfully damage or attempt to damage a system or part of a system operated by a licensee or service provider.

(3) A person who contravenes any provision of subsection (1) or (2) shall be guilty of an offence.

[Adrian]

Here's a statement NTL gave me. Apparently, they're going to try and up their encryption.

"ntl would like to make it clear that the use of these devices is a criminal offence under the Broadcasting Act 1990, Copyright & Related Rights Act 2000 and Conditional Access Regulation 2000. In those instances where ntl establishes proof that these devices are being used illegally we work closely with the local Gardai to secure a criminal conviction.

Furthermore, ntl is working with its encryption solution provider to introduce a new level of security in order to render these illegal boxes inoperable. In addition, consumers should be aware that they are not only purchasing an illegal box but will end up wasting money on the device which will at some point in the future stop working."

[Adam]

My understanding is that the boxes themselves are not illegal, it's their application that is. In fact you'll see most of the eBay listings for these types of boxes giving a disclaimer and saying it's not their fault if someone uses the box to do something illegal.

The box is just a decoder, really, and it can be used legally (although NTL rules don't allow you to use any other box than their own on their service, even if you're only getting the channels you paid for... that's not a law, it's just their rule).

So to that end buying and selling isn't really a problem, I think, it's just when you switch it on...

(And as far as I know the boxes cannot be detected by UPC - they can only change channel frequencies and decoder codes to make it difficult for owners.. the only way they can currently catch you is if they come into your house and see it)

Adam, so what does this mean?

"No person shall... possess, manufacture, assemble, import, supply, or offer to supply, any equipment which is designed or adapted to be used for the purpose of enabling such interception [of the signal] by any person"

(-- Broadcasting Act, 1990)

Doesn't this make it illegal to "possess" one? And to "supply" one?

[Adam]

Well the boxes (according to the companies that make them) aren't designed to pirate a signal and the only adaptation that's made to them is software-based.

To that degree owning one of these boxes means nothing by itself - it just depends how the software is set up on it.

What? Have you seen this ad?

http://www.everything.ie/index.php?cf_action=details&category_id=0205&listing_id=12399

Quote:

"The Dreambox 500c allows you to watch every channel available on NTL and Chorus Cable in Ireland. This includes ALL the Sky Sports Channels, Sky Movies Channels, Pay Per View Channels, Adult Channels (Playboy TV, Adult Channel etc). You get every channel for free, forever..."

[www.dvbseller.com]

CCCAM emulator- INSTALLATION KAI REGULATION (CCcam v. 2. 04)[ D] OR L[ O] [ S] OR This driver was drawn up for clearly educational and experimental reasons. It is reminded that the distribution of cards except domestic network THEY IS OUTLAW AND IS PERSECUTED BY THE LAW This driver supported itself primarily in below posts that were enriched mainly with the steps that“ appearred clearly” (or that i I did not distinguish) at the process of regulation of CCcam Emulator. eurocardsharing. com/ showthread. php? t 22314/ ...