I hope this is not considered a "hack" question, but What is the sattelite industry doing about illegal dish boxes? Im thinking of buying a used HD box that has been possibly compromised but will only used for BUD FTA use only. I think I can get it for like half the price of a new one. What is the legality of owning such a thing?
Legality of owning a possibly hacked reciever?
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If you load it back with factory firmware then it is no longer a hacked box. Even if it had hackware on it I think it would be hard to get charged if it was only hooked up to a bud. Especially since the cops would have to be searching your house for other reasons before they would bother to check the firmware version on a satellite receiver.
Just like SatPhreak said - you can load it back to factory firmware, and it will no longer be a hacked box.
One thing to keep in mind with the HD boxes - they may come with a Turbo 8PSK module in them that are specific to Dishnet HD. If you want an 8PSK module for watching legit HD that uses the 8PSK modulation, the Dishnet one may not work.
What brand box are you looking at? Some of them are poor choices for FTA, some are great choices. CS800/8100 are great choices, anything that has an illuminati card in it is suspect already, by association. 
If it's aPansat 9200HD and you can get it cheap, it's a good box, but you'll have to buy a seperate card for DVB-S2, so factor that into the price.
The Coolsat 8000/8100 supports DVB-S2 out of the box, so they may be a better value. The Pansat 9200, though, has blindscan for dvb-s and that is a plus on it's side.
If it's aPansat 9200HD and you can get it cheap, it's a good box, but you'll have to buy a seperate card for DVB-S2, so factor that into the price. The Coolsat 8000/8100 supports DVB-S2 out of the box, so they may be a better value. The Pansat 9200, though, has blindscan for dvb-s and that is a plus on it's side.
On the face of it, what you'all said looks appropriate for someone being careful, (*) but I would like to know a legal answer to the OP's question.
Is it a problem to posess hacked firmware, or a receiver that has hacked firmware on it?
Of the receivers I bought on eBay, about half of them came with dubious features. I do a factory reset and blind scan (Free) or enter FTA TP's by hand. What evidence is there that I have used the receivers to view scrambled content? Furthermore. by the time I took posession of the receivers, the firmware was already obsolete.
The firmware revision dates are a couple of years old. Given that, there is no way they could be or have been used to access protected content during the time I owned them. So then, what would be the infraction or legal claim?
DMCA?
Fine print...
* But, is that level of being careful enough to avoid trouble like D* used during their inquisition of smart card reader/writer owners? EG, You get a claim saying that because you posess a generic FTA box, you are being sued. Otherwise, you could pay a settlement of $3500.
Is it a problem to posess hacked firmware, or a receiver that has hacked firmware on it?
Of the receivers I bought on eBay, about half of them came with dubious features. I do a factory reset and blind scan (Free) or enter FTA TP's by hand. What evidence is there that I have used the receivers to view scrambled content? Furthermore. by the time I took posession of the receivers, the firmware was already obsolete.
The firmware revision dates are a couple of years old. Given that, there is no way they could be or have been used to access protected content during the time I owned them. So then, what would be the infraction or legal claim?
DMCA?
Fine print...
* But, is that level of being careful enough to avoid trouble like D* used during their inquisition of smart card reader/writer owners? EG, You get a claim saying that because you posess a generic FTA box, you are being sued. Otherwise, you could pay a settlement of $3500.
Just flash the thing back to stock firmware from pansat's website and don't worry about it.
It will then be as it was manufactured and intended. You will love your HD fta capabilities.
It will then be as it was manufactured and intended. You will love your HD fta capabilities.
guapoharry asked:
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On the face of it, what you'all said looks appropriate for someone being careful, (*) but I would like to know a legal answer to the OP's question.
Is it a problem to posess hacked firmware, or a receiver that has hacked firmware on it?
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I don't think it's technically illegal to own the receiver(even with suspect add-ons) , to have the downloads on your computer, or even load the updates into your receiver.
It is illegal to use all of that to RECEIVE scrambled broadcasts. But there is a very big caveat or warning on this. Even though it is not technically illegal to have a receiver with the suspicious things installed, what other reason would you have them for? If there is no other reason , then those acts, while not illegal themselves, are EVIDENCE of your intent to break the law.
Having a module installed that only enables the reception of scrambled broadcasts is evidence of your illegal intent - which I assure you would be used against you. Having a download installed that has no other purpose but receiving scrambled broadcasts likewise.
Many of us have used some of these downloads successfully to resolve some issue with the factory firmware.
If you need to try to install these downloads, like above discussed, install old ones.
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On the face of it, what you'all said looks appropriate for someone being careful, (*) but I would like to know a legal answer to the OP's question.
Is it a problem to posess hacked firmware, or a receiver that has hacked firmware on it?
--------
I don't think it's technically illegal to own the receiver(even with suspect add-ons) , to have the downloads on your computer, or even load the updates into your receiver.
It is illegal to use all of that to RECEIVE scrambled broadcasts. But there is a very big caveat or warning on this. Even though it is not technically illegal to have a receiver with the suspicious things installed, what other reason would you have them for? If there is no other reason , then those acts, while not illegal themselves, are EVIDENCE of your intent to break the law.
Having a module installed that only enables the reception of scrambled broadcasts is evidence of your illegal intent - which I assure you would be used against you. Having a download installed that has no other purpose but receiving scrambled broadcasts likewise.
Many of us have used some of these downloads successfully to resolve some issue with the factory firmware.
If you need to try to install these downloads, like above discussed, install old ones.
Even though it has "upgraded" firmware chances are pretty good that by the time you got it it was not functioning the way the firmware was intended. Reflash it with the factory bin and forget about it.
IANAL, however, TMK there are few laws regarding the possession or owning much of anything except illegal drugs and assault weapons. However, USING them is a whole different story. I know many hams who have modified their ham radios to operate on non-ham (i.e. Public Safety) frequencies. There is technically nothing illegal about that (except in Kentucky) until you transmit. Then you have broken the law.
I think the general opinion is you can hack the box all you want, but unless you are viewing subscription channels without paying for them, you are not doing anything illegal.
My $.0002
I think the general opinion is you can hack the box all you want, but unless you are viewing subscription channels without paying for them, you are not doing anything illegal.
My $.0002
FWIW the turbo 8PSK demodulator isn't involved in the decryption. It can be used to get ITC turbo 8PSK. I'm guessing LyngSat is wrong, but it still shows that EchoStar 5 has an 8PSK transponder with FTA channels. I'm assuming that is turbo, or gone, as I have never locked it with my normal 8PSK receiver.
So the turbo 8PSK hardware & software can be used for legal FTA/ITC reception.
Personally I wish the 3rd parties would release clean firmware without the eyepatch crap, but with all the features & bugfixes that the manufacturer never provides.
Lyngsat is correct about those channels that you're referring to being FTA, at the moment.
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