Cable company cutting lines - legality issues?

[Strider3000]

I have a friend who lives at an apartment complex with pre-installed wiring in all the rooms. He recently had DishNetwork installed on 4 of his TVs, and the installer rigged the lines from the dish through the cable box, so as to use the outlets already in the walls of his room, and so (presumably) the installer wouldn't have to run a bunch of new lines and drill holes, which is forbidden by the complex managers.

Yesterday, the local cable company (Time Warner) came out and cut the lines from the dish into the cable box. Apparently, the technician from the cable company claimed that they not only own the box, but all the cable lines running into the complex.

My questions is, was it illegal for the Dish technician to use the pre-installed lines into the complex, even though the landlord gave explicit permission for him to do so? Is the only way to have new holes drilled into the building, which is going to be very difficult for him to do?

UPDATE:

The cable company came out and pulled the lines going to the particular apt back outside of the box, so Dish hooked the system back up and it works fine.

What you all have told me about the lines and ownership however is fairly interesting. Around here (Moscow Idaho) it seems as if 3rd party contractors are used most often for cabling, so the managing company "owns" the lines, so to speak.

 

[Hall]

TWC certainly owns the box and the Dish installer has no right to use it. As for who owns the cables themselves, once they leave the TWC box and go to the apartments, that cable is the apt's property.

I'm curious what replies you'd get if you asked this in a cable-centric forum....

 

[rcdallas]

Yes they own the lock box, but I highly doubt the cable company owns the lines within the multi-dwelling unit.

I've been in the situation before where the only means was to put the dish near the cable lock box to use the pre wire or the job would not go. Initially I said it couldn't be done, but then after talking with complex management, they stated they owned the lines, for me to unlock the box (yes I have many keys, 5-star, spring key, Red-Dot, Gilberts, etc) and to take the prewire coming into the box and reroute to a ground block outside of the box. I did not cut any lines, especially the drop coming in, all left in tact. I even did the favor of terminating the drop appropriately to prevent leakage. If you go in there and start hacking lines apart you are definately asking for trouble.

I had advised Comcrap would probably gripe, I was told don't worry about it, and nothing, I repeat nothing has ever came back. Did I cross a line? Perhaps, but that is a risk I took, so is the risk that comcast did giving me the tools the short term I contracted with them. I hate comcast so I don't care. It didn't really matter due to the fact the MDU lock box was never locked to begin with, many of them never are, at least in my area. I'm about having a choice as to who your television provider is. I don't steal, nor do I condone bootlegging cable tv. I have the option to do it where I reside, but I have dish and I pay for it.

Every situation will be different, but if the property management explicitly owns the lines after the lockbox then there is nothing the cable company can do but whine. Granted there will probably be some hurdles to overcome and bases to cover, but that is whats going to happen in this type of scenario.

If the cable company had some situation whereas they prewired all of the units during construction, then I'd be willing to bet they actually down own the lines within, but if done by electrical contractor during construction, I would say otherwise.

If anything I'd make sure TWC would be backcharged for the service call to hook the lines back up, provided everything was clean to begin with, just the same as in my area Comcast would backcharge for a tech cutting a drop, etc.

On a side note; I know quite a few people that work for Comcast... it's funny when you see a Comcast/Dish guy sitting down having lunch together in uniform.

 

[webbydude]

If the cable company had some situation whereas they prewired all of the units during construction, then I'd be willing to bet they actually down own the lines within, but if done by electrical contractor during construction, I would say otherwise.

I'd go so far as to say even IF the cable company was contracted to prewire during the construction phase, that they do NOT own the lines once said lines leave their oh-so-precious lockbox. There is no difference between an electrical contractor and hiring the wiring chores out to the cable company.

That's pretty funny about keeping the various keys. I did the same thing when I contracted out with the local Time Warner and Adelphia offices. It just makes it much more convenient and cleaner to have access to their boxes. Otherwise, as an installer, you're stuck hacking into lines from outside the box. A very messy, and much riskier proposition.

 

[webbydude]

I have a friend who lives at an apartment complex with pre-installed wiring in all the rooms. He recently had DishNetwork installed on 4 of his TVs, and the installer rigged the lines from the dish through the cable box, so as to use the outlets already in the walls of his room, and so (presumably) the installer wouldn't have to run a bunch of new lines and drill holes, which is forbidden by the complex managers.

Yesterday, the local cable company (Time Warner) came out and cut the lines from the dish into the cable box. Apparently, the technician from the cable company claimed that they not only own the box, but all the cable lines running into the complex.

My questions is, was it illegal for the Dish technician to use the pre-installed lines into the complex, even though the landlord gave explicit permission for him to do so? Is the only way to have new holes drilled into the building, which is going to be very difficult for him to do?

I think the "only" thing your friend's installer did wrong was to connect the lines inside the lockbox. If he had connecte/barrelled them outside of said lockbox, TWC wouldn't have had much room to complain.

 

[thiggin2]

My brother is a sub contractor for Brighthouse and when I bought my house he came out to hook up my internet and I questioned him on the cables and he stated I couldn't open "there" box but I could do anything I wanted with the cables coming out of it (of course cutting the wires as they came out).

 

[rcdallas]

I think the "only" thing your friend's installer did wrong was to connect the lines inside the lockbox. If he had connecte/barrelled them outside of said lockbox, TWC wouldn't have had much room to complain.

I was thinking that's what probably happened. Definately don't want to do that.

 

[dishcomm]

I have a friend who lives at an apartment complex with pre-installed wiring in all the rooms. He recently had DishNetwork installed on 4 of his TVs, and the installer rigged the lines from the dish through the cable box, so as to use the outlets already in the walls of his room, and so (presumably) the installer wouldn't have to run a bunch of new lines and drill holes, which is forbidden by the complex managers.

Yesterday, the local cable company (Time Warner) came out and cut the lines from the dish into the cable box. Apparently, the technician from the cable company claimed that they not only own the box, but all the cable lines running into the complex.

My questions is, was it illegal for the Dish technician to use the pre-installed lines into the complex, even though the landlord gave explicit permission for him to do so? Is the only way to have new holes drilled into the building, which is going to be very difficult for him to do?

He must check with the apt mangement..He should ask if the wriring was installed by Time Warner or a contrctor hired by the builder..If the wriring is TW's property, the cable guy( douche bag for cutting the wires) is correct..Also this point will make the first one moot. If the building terminal(cable box) is installed by Time Warner ,the box is off limits to all others..The complex owner has no right to allow anyone in what is essentially Time Warner's property. Would be the same as intruding into a local telco ped.

 

[chadzx11]

Perhaps, but that is a risk I took, so is the risk that comcast did giving me the tools the short term I contracted with them.

Thanks for making us all look like thieving douchebags. Even if they nailed your paycheck for those, its still stealing. One more reason I quit installing.

 

[damaged]

Thanks for making us all look like thieving douchebags.

Concast themselves have done a pretty good job of that.

 

[rcdallas]

Chad, I don't think so, not here. Actually when I was contracting I bought the tools up front. I don't care for issued items. Same for satellite, I went out and bought my own Sat Buddy and inclinometer, I have my own drill, I carry my own glow rods and such.

Now back to cable, had I walked off with a Sadelco and Hector's pup, that would be stealing. The outfit I worked with was and still is a joke.

 

[codee]

Interestingly enough, this same thing went on in my area recently. I'm sure end results would vary from company to company, and even from system to system within the same company. What happened here was that a directv installer used the line in the lockbox that runs to the customers apartment to feed the sat reciever from the dish. A cable co tech was at a job for a different apt there and noticed the dish line running to the lockbox. He called the security team who went out and verified what was going on, and disconected the dish line and advised the sub to contact directv to have the dish line run correctly, and not on our line. Security went out about a week later to follow up, and directv had hooked the dish up again the same way. The dish was disconnected again, and some other stuff went on that i'm not totally aware of, but I know that directv isn't using our line now to feed their reciever in that apt.

Like I said, it would very from area to area depending on if the cable co had wired the building, or if the complex had their own contractors do it or another 3rd party company. Around here though, we have a MDU division for all apartment/Townhome/Multiple Dwelling Unit wiring issues. If there is a trouble call or install in a MDU, and the problem isn't either at the tap, or between the wallplate(s) and the customer premise equipment, then a MDU team has to come and run a new line from the tap to the wall plate. That involves a lot of time/fishing through walls, floors, ceilings, etc.

I am curious about apartment complexes that claim they "own" the cabling in the wall. Do THEY do any necessare repairs if a drop goes bad? It isn't a common issue, but it does happen. I would be surprised if they were willing to spend the money for a company to come in and do that for them.

So I guess around here, yes the cable co does "own" the lines in the apts, and nobody else can use them other then for OTA TV signals. (we hook the drops up to a OTA antenna system in most cases when we disco a cable customer)

 

[Hall]

I am curious about apartment complexes that claim they "own" the cabling in the wall. Do THEY do any necessare repairs if a drop goes bad?

Because they *do*, just like homeowners do. Once you feed it into the house, you've given it to the owner, like it or not. You "repair" it by replacing it and charging the customer or if there's no charge, it's simply factored in to everyone's monthly rate or as a cost of doing business and keeping customers. Think about it: A customer has a bad cable that stops their service from working. What is the cable company's option, tell them "tough" and have them fix it themselves ?? What's the repurcussions of that ?? For many, it's drop the cable company. The other option is fix it.

Does the electrician who installed the wiring in my house own it ?? Does the HVAC guy who installed ductwork own that ??