Cable television piracy
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Cable television piracy is the act of obtaining unauthorized access to cable television services.[1] It is a form of copyright infringement and a federal crime. Reception of cable television without authorization by a cable operator is forbidden by both federal and state laws.[2] In Missouri, cable television piracy is usually a class A misdemeanor; if the service is $500 or more, it is classified as a class C felony.[3]
Methods
In older analog cable systems, most cable channels were not
Other ways of cable theft were using a cable TV
Prevention
To prevent this, cable providers built stronger protection against theft into new
As of 2018, many cable providers have switched to digital-only systems that require mandatory use of either their approved set top boxes or an approved CableCARD device. In many cases, no analog channels are available, and if they are, are usually just the provider's paid programming, Emergency Alert System and barker channels, or merely a one-channel signal that lets a customer or installer know the signal is viewable on a television set. Channels and programming may also be available through digital media player devices such as the Roku or Apple TV (along with tablets and smartphones) via provider apps, which confirm subscriber eligibility through a private internal IP network and require an on-network connection to the provider (including disallowing connections to outside virtual private network services to emulate a home network connection elsewhere), making any piracy through that venue virtually impossible.
Digital cable systems
In most modern digital cable systems the signals are encrypted, so cases of people obtaining illegal service are less common. The subscriber requires a set-top box provided by the cable company to decrypt and receive the cable signal. Unlike the older analog set-top boxes, the digital set-top box will not function until the cable company activates it by sending it a unique activation key through the cable, which is sent only after the subscriber signs up. Each set-top box is individually addressable, so a given box can be deactivated by command from the company if the subscriber fails to pay their bill (this is sometimes colloquially referred to as a "bullet"). A box only decrypts the channel being watched, so each box can only be used with one television, requiring subscribers to lease additional boxes at greater expense for multiple televisions.
One minor loophole is that the cable company has no way of knowing where a given set-top box is located, and once activated a box will function anywhere in the local cable system. Subscribers are often provided with several set-top boxes as part of their subscription, and can give or sell unneeded activated boxes to neighboring nonsubscribers who can use them in their own residences, though a provider using IP location using the cable modem within a set-top box featuring advanced two-way features can avert this situation.
This system is dependent on the security of the encryption system chosen by the cable company in question. Old cable equipment used an
See also
- BeoutQ
- Broadcast encryption
- Pirate decryption
- Television encryption
- Theft of services
- Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment
- The Baby Shower (Seinfeld)
References
- ^ Types of Cable Theft - Time Warner Cable
- ^ "Cable Theft Information".
- ^ "2013 Missouri Revised Statutes :: TITLE XXXVIII CRIMES AND PUNISHMENT; PEACE OFFICERS AND PUBLIC DEFENDERS :: Chapter 570 Stealing and Related Offenses :: Section 570.300 Theft of cable television service, penalty".
- ^ Brian VanHooker (21 February 2020), How the Hell Did Cable Descramblers Work, Anyway (And Can You Still Use Them)?, retrieved 2022-01-31
- ^ Ed Brandt. "Cable tracks thieves". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2022-01-31.
- ^ "'ELECTRONIC BULLETS' THAT BLOW AWAY ILLEGAL CABLE BOXES". Bloomberg Businessweek. 30 June 1991. Retrieved 26 October 2015.