Is this illegal?

[jmcneil]

My brother-in-law paid $250.00 for a local company to install a satellite with a receiver. He doesn't have any monthly fee's anymore and he receives a ton of channels. I don't know exactly how many channels he gets but, it is a ton. Anyway about every month his channels scrambles and he has to wait for this company to send him some sort of code or something and then it fixes his channels. When he told me about it I told him it had to be illegal but, when I search on-line I found a bunch of sites saying similar things that this company told him. Anyway he called the company and they laughed at him and told him it was Free to Air tv and was completely legal. The thing is he gets ESPN, NFL Network, ect.. it is like he has a satellite subscription without the monthly fee's. So is this legal? If it isn't which my guess is it isn't why then can I not find any clear cut answers? This is the only site I have found with a FTA section that doesn't talk about all the Dish Network channels you can get. My brother-in-law doesn't want to do anything illegal but, when he asks this company they act shocked that this would be illegal. Any clarification would be appreciated.

 

[qwert1515]

It is illegal, Free To Air means channels that are broadcasted without encryption, unfortunately hackers also call there system free to air because they use similar equipment (which they hack) and they receive encrypted programing for free (Illegally).

The reason his channels scramble are because they are not fta, if they were free there would be no reason for them to be scrambled.

 

[lumpkin666]

Tell him to call dishnetwork directly and ask them. They will give him the straight info. Of course he may want to contact a lawyer before doing that, because he'll defintely need one afterwards. In otherwords, yes, it's illegal - obviously you know that since you had enough sense to question its legality. Any sane person knows that you don't get everything from a pay provider without paying them for it.

 

[jcrandall]

it is HIGHLY illegal. He should report the company to the carrier (dish, directv, expressvu, or star choice - the last two are canadian)

 

[Mr Tony]

Anyway about every month his channels scrambles and he has to wait for this company to send him some sort of code or something and then it fixes his channels.

right there is a red flag. Yes its illegal

 

[jmcneil]

Thank you. I will print this stuff out and give it to him. This pretty much confirmed what I already suspected. What is even funnier is the satellite companies name "Magic Satellite".

 

[truckracer]

He should get rid of that setup. Not even have it on his premises. Free to air is signals not encrypted that can be viewed with factory software that is loaded in the free to air receivers.
He could find that setup could cost him thousands of dollars and jail time. Not worth it if you ask me. Besides there is a ton of truely free stuff to see and you can sleep at night.

 

[lumpkin666]

He should get rid of that setup. Not even have it on his premises. Free to air is signals not encrypted that can be viewed with factory software that is loaded in the free to air receivers.
He could find that setup could cost him thousands of dollars and jail time. Not worth it if you ask me. Besides there is a ton of truely free stuff to see and you can sleep at night.

No jail time, it's not a criminal offense, only a civil one.

 

[Rendered]

If I was in your position here is what I would do. I would use the forum to research FTA and then research the receiver that is hacked. I would see if I could reset it to its default factory settings and then use it to pick up real FTA. It is not as grand as the hacked signals but there is still a lot of neat stuff out there that really is free!

And if that works then I have got something somewhat worth the money I have paid. Once I was sure that my receiver could not pick up hacked signals then I would call Dish Network and tell them all about the cheats who sold me the hacked thing. That would be doing everyone a big favor! People who sell setups for stealing make life hard for people who want real FTA that is 100% legal.


Of course if you can’t reset the equipment then the best thing is to get rid of it fast.

That is just my two cents.

Other then this great forum, here are some links to find some info about real FTA:

FTAList.com - The easy list of North American free-to-air TV channels

FTAVIDEOS.COM SATELLITE VIDEO TUTORIALS: GENERAL

LyngSat - Lyngemark Satellite

Installing your satellite dish and receiver - DIY INSTALLATION SUPPORT

 

[Rendered]

I just thought about it and I should clarify what I said earlier. Once your brother is able to reset the receiver then it should be legal FTA. If not then the safe thing to do is to get rid of it. After that, then it would be good if you could contact some sort of authorities and tell them about this suspicious company you have run into. You do not need to tell them anything about your brother or about him buying a setup from them.

I am not an expert but I think your brother will need to buy a linear LNB to pick up most of the real FTA signals out there if he wants to give real FTA a try.

FREE TO AIR LNB LNBF Dual Single DSS Standard and Universal

 

[Tron]

I would flash the receiver with the latest factory firmware, usually available from the manufacturer's website, forget hacked Dish, and enjoy what's free up there. I would NOT notify any authorities, no need to draw any unnecessary attention to yourself. There are those in the industry and in government who would brand anyone with a non-Dish or non-BEV DVB receiver as a pirate, and who seek to outlaw any and all such receivers (for ANY purpose). Just ask Dish.