SPECIAL REPORT: Is Stealing the NEW WAY of watching TV?

[Asket]

It was a nice bright sunny day and I decided to take my family to the Big E which our big multi state fair here in New England. The weather was perfect for a day walking around and viewing all of the great displays at the fair.

As I walked through the main gate I could see a big red DISH tent at the other end of the midway.

Since the ride was long we decided to go into the Young Building first. Since I have worked at the Big E in years past I knew of a bathroom where there wouldn’t be a mile long wait. Walked inside to go to the bathroom and was shocked at what I saw… a booth advertising “All-In-One Streaming TV Box” “No Monthly Feeds” and a person on a microphone asking why you’re paying DIRECTV to NFL Sunday Ticket when with their box you can watch each and every game in full HD each week live and for FREE?

I went and used the restroom and then came back to watch the sales pitch. They demonstrated how you could watch almost any cable or satellite channel plus showed you how you could even watch live TV from England.

Next they showed you how easy it was to watch almost any movie you wanted. The man demonstrating the system then said you heard about that new movie that came out last Friday… well we have it here and you can watch it for free.

The crowd was going nuts watching the demo and then someone shouted out that this can’t be legal. The person giving the demo didn’t stop a second and said it was all perfectly legal and pointed out that it’s so legal it even is FCC approved and showed a label on the box.

People were lining up shelling out the $299 or $399 for one of these boxes. I saw some folks walk away with two of three of them.

So what was the box? Well it was a Chinese made Android TV box. The box was pre-loaded with the latest version of KODI (formerly know as XBMC) and included with KODI was all the plugins you need to get all the free TV and movies one could want.

In seeing this I was angered because in my humble opinion there was no way this could be legal. I am smart enough to know that just because a piece of electronics has a FCC certification on the hardware it is not a license to ignore the copyrights of the TV channels and Movie companies.

I asked some questions but they wouldn’t answer, they wouldn’t tell me the name of their company or if they had a number to call if I needed help. They had zero litature on display that you could take with you. But if you love TV you would want one.

Some older people were looking at buying one and I told them they could get the software for free on the Internet and pulled up my phone and showed them, they thanked me and walked away. The guy giving the spiel said that the version I showed them has lots of Viruses in it and only their box was guaranteed to be virus free.

I decided I didn’t want to make more of a scene and took some pics and walked away. I couldn’t believe that such a major fair such at the Big E would allow such a product to be sold there.

I walked out the door and we walked around to more places. I walked to the giant DISH booth and talked to the guys running the booth. They told me they were not selling anything because of the box being sold inside. One told me they made a few sales but then a few minutes later people came back and canceled their orders and had one of these boxes in their hands. They were upset and they had a right to be. We left the DISH booth and continued to talk, as we walked towards the state building at the other end of the park we were surprised to find another booth for this box outside… as we kept working there was another one.

We then went into the Better Living Building that’s where they have all the demos for stuff you have seen on TV like the Super Shammie, Vegamatic, Super Car Wax etc… Imagine my shock as when we walked around in this building there were not one of these box booths not two of them but THREE of them in the same building. And they had big crowds around them and were selling them like hotcakes.

I noticed that different booths were selling different boxes, some booths had a dual core Android box for $299 and other booths had a a quad core Android box for $399. But all the booths were giving the same spiel, get free TV and movies for life.

I have known about XBMC / KODI for a while now and admitting used it in the past to watch live BBC and ITV from England. The Kodi program itself is not illegal, it’s the add ons that take a legal program and device and turn it into a pirates dream come true.

Now will the sales people say these boxes are plug and play, I can only wonder if they get it home and turn it on and it only has Kodi loaded and no plug ins. If this was the case then honestly they would be legally selling these boxes, however if they are selling these boxes fully loaded then they would be in violation of the law.

As I was in the better living building I stopped by the DIRECTV booth that was there, and just like the DISH tent outside it was dead in the DIRECTV booth. In talking to those in the booth trying to sell DIRECTV it was the same story no sales because of the illegal boxes being sold.

I even stopped by the Comcast XFINITY booth and same story there, it was a ghost town and no one was buying anything.

It is obvious that these boxes are causing an issue for them. In all my years I have not seen such blatant stealing of service then what I saw here at the Big E.

What if anything can these companies do? Most consumers who were there believed the boxes were legal just because they were FCC certified.

What will this due to the future of TV? I mean why anyone pay for it when you can get one of these boxes or build your own and watch TV and any more for free.

Is stealing TV what the industry is being reduced to?

As I left the fair feeling full my stomach was in a knot over what I saw here as I am not sure what can be done about this… if anything.

I ended up seeing 6 of these booths setup around the fair and it honestly shocked me what I saw. My only hope is that people who purchased one find it not as easy to use as they saw at the fair and the quality will not be as good and many of the channels might not work when they want to watch TV. If this happens then hopefully these folks figure out that free service isn’t worth the money they paid for it.

Sometimes FREE isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. Buyer beware!

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Paid service isn't worth it either. Cancelled Dish because in the end the programming is so bad in so many ways no one even turned the legal dish box to watch anything There are services out there yes but after a short time they become tiring. There is so much more to life than BOOB Tube TV

 

[T134]

I saw a girl that runs a motorcycle accessory store for women with basically the same sales pitch. I looked at the box, "only" $299 for what was essentially a dual core Amiko A3 but with no satellite built in. It was more like a $30 China Special with Kodi loaded in there. If those things are $299 I guess I should sell the A3 Combo Quad Core Android/satellite box for $499 instead of the $109-$124 we are looking at.

KODI does DMCA anyone advertising illegal plugins with Kodi on a box. Turn them in.

Looks like already mentioned but KODI with pirate add-ons won't get you a cable like service. Things go down, feeds are mostly crap and it is of course illegal. The only way to get these legally is like what I do with Comcast/Xfinity using a HDhomerun and a cablecard from Comcast to get cable on my A3's. The UK stuff is a different story. You can get a good FREE selection of channels with VPN. It's not technically illegal for us in USA but violates UK regulations for viewing the programming outside of UK.

Between netflix, OTA, LEGAL KODI stuff, some Android Apps plus the Xfinity all on the A3 I've got way more TV than I ever watch. Many guys would probably be happy with legal KODI and legal add-ons if cutting the cord and don't need satellite or local OTA. Definitely don't waste $299 on a $29 box!

 

[jevans64]

It is only going to get worse the more CATV/Satellite go up. For the first time in a while my VOIP and Internet services went up... about 15%. Those rates will also skyrocket just like programming as more people switch from traditional TV to streaming everything. It is getting to the point where it is cheaper to just buy the movies/series on disc and have something physical that can't be taken away.

For now I'm happy with the Dish Welcome Pack, OTA, Amazon Prime, and the recent $10 subscription to HBO for HBO Go access. I work a ton of hours and rarely watch anything live. Shoot! It takes me several days to watch a typical episode.

 

[nelson61]

I'm really surprised that the fair organizers would even allow something like this on the fairgrounds. The same people that buy this stuff go to work and wonder why they are not getting a raise (the company is going broke because of the grifters stealing their customers)

 

[Mr Tony]

Is Stealing the NEW WAY of watching TV?

No offense Scott but Stealing really isn't "the new way" of watching TV

-people did it with cheater chips in cable boxes years ago
-people did it with cards on Directv
-people did it with free to air boxes and pirated software
-people do it (I think) with IKS or their FTA boxes hooked to the internet

this apparently is just a new way...but it doesn't require cable or a dish.

 

[Juan]

No offense Scott but Stealing really isn't "the new way" of watching TV

-people did it with cheater chips in cable boxes years ago
-people did it with cards on Directv
-people did it with free to air boxes and pirated software
-people do it (I think) with IKS or their FTA boxes hooked to the internet

this apparently is just a new way...but it doesn't require cable or a dish.

Not directly but the signal comes from somewhere

 

[Mr Tony]

Not directly but the signal comes from somewhere

but you don't need cable TV or a satellite dish to apparently steal now. Just internet

 

[Juan]

but you don't need cable TV or a satellite dish to apparently steal now. Just internet

Correct..but the server gets the signal from somewhere..dish was able to identify the stolen signal somehow and actually sued a couple "subscribers" of a internet streaming site for 10grand...I dont want to post a link..but I can pm it

 

[Mr Tony]

But the point is that stealing TV is not "new".....its been done for decades. That is the point I was making.

 

[ancient]

Yes, but there is another side to it. Sometimes arcane laws or laws that are not in the interest of the consumer keep material from being seen that is available to some but not others. Distants as one example, BBC TV as another. Realizing it doesn't make it right to obtain and stream that material to others, when artificial barriers are made this is what happens. I have no doubt whatsoever, people would pay something for programming if it was made available. Those that just want free are not who I am talking about.

Bingo. I think this is a huge part of why these illegal boxes exits. The television programmers and the cable and satellite providers are trying to force people into watching TV pretty much the way they did in the 1950's, only with more crap channels to choose from. But nowadays people are in the mindset of wanting to watch a program now, irregardless of when it originally aired, and often they want to binge watch several episodes at once. And they want a high quality signal, not standard def or overly-compressed (unless watching an old show originally filmed in standard def, and I predict that after a few more years those will be about as popular as old black and white shows, in that older people may watch them but it will be rare to find anyone under 40 that will sit and watch standard def. In fact I'm quite a ways past 40 and it's very rare that I'll watch anything that's not high def!).

I'm not condoning those boxes, but they exist because that's how people want to watch TV - whatever content they can think of they can watch, without a lot of hassle and without ridiculous pricing. Soon to be gone are the days when you can force people to pay for programming they would never watch, unless you do what Hulu would have been if Comcrap hadn't bought it, which is become a one-stop shop for all content where people pay a reasonable flat monthly rate to watch a reasonable amount of the content THEY want to watch in a month. Netflix and Amazon are both trying to do this but then you have companies like CBS that think their content is SO doggone special that people should deal with them separately and pay a ridiculous monthly rate for a relatively small selection of content (compared to what Amazon or Netflix charges for a vastly larger selection), so they refuse to put their content on any of the major services. Which I think is a really dumb move on their part, but we'll see. History repeats itself; CBS was the last network to broadcast in color, too.

One other reason the landscape is changing that nobody wants to talk about is that a lot of people hate their local TV stations, for reasons ranging from poor coverage (you live ten miles from their tower and still can't get a reliable signal) to pre-emptions of network shows (some televangelist paid them more money than they would have made by airing the network show) to graphics and banners that cover half the screen (in my area this happens any time there's even mildly bad weather) to poor audio quality to the big one, contract disputes with cable or satellite providers that take the programming off the air for viewers on those services. Who needs local TV stations? The only thing they used to be good for is local news and even that is declining in many markets. But for network shows, I'd MUCH rather see them directly from the network, even if I have to wait a week.

In a way this reminds me of the 1970's when the phone companies tried to tell people it was illegal (a felony, even) for them to hook up their own extension telephones that they had purchased, and that they had to rent extensions from the phone company at an extra $5 a month or more (remember this was 1970's dollars). I got a reputation at one point for being able to fix them (mostly things like stuck rotary dials and worn cords) and suddenly I found out that about half the neighborhood had their own privately-owned phones in a basement or in the garage. And everyone's attitude was that the phone company was gouging consumers on the extensions (which they were, since the cost of the phone to them was less than what they would make in rental fees in six months to a year) so law or no law, they weren't going to pay. There seems to be something in human nature that says that if a company is perceived to be trying to gouge you on pricing, it's okay to to ignore the technicalities of a protectionist law. And let's face it, whether you agree with it or not, copyright law IS a protectionist law, by design. But just as I think people would have gladly paid a reasonable monthly rate of a buck or two a month for an extension phone in the 1970's, I think a lot of people would happily pay for content if they could only have to deal with one or two sources, and pay a reasonable rate. What people are NOT going to do is deal with a dozen different companies or more; at that point it just becomes easier to go the illegal route. Which is not without peril, but too many people don't think about (or don't even know about) the possible consequences until it's too late.

 

[Juan]

But the point is that stealing TV is not "new".....its been done for decades. That is the point I was making.

Even with the big dishes

 

[harshness]

No offense Scott but Stealing really isn't "the new way" of watching TV

It is when it appears at several booths at a regional fair.

Before it was the domain of those that knew they were pirating. Now it is being marketed to everyone as free and legal and in a most public way.

 

[Foxbat]

No different than someone charging you $300 to drill a hole in the water main out in the street and offering "all the water you want for free"...

 

[Troch77]

Did authorities shut the booths down?

If not IMO it's not stealing.
Something that wide spread and out in the open like such clearly isn't breaking any laws.

I just find it hard to believe the FCC, Dish, Directv, and what ever cable provider would just stand there pouting if there was something that could have been done right then and there.

Just keep one thing in mind, If Dish, Directv, and Cable prices weren't getting out of control, People wouldn't be looking for ways to get their programming for a discount or even free.

The Providers and Networks brought all this on themselves.

 

[Troch77]

Here is Amazons take on it.
https://torrentfreak.com/amazon-bans-kodi-app-over-piracy-concerns-150616/

 

[navychop]

I'd gladly pay an extra $100 in taxes to see all these "something for nothing" (outside initial cost) folks get arrested and fined a few thou.

 

[Juan]

Did authorities shut the booths down?

If not IMO it's not stealing.
Something that wide spread and out in the open like such clearly isn't breaking any laws.

I just find it hard to believe the FCC, Dish, Directv, and what ever cable provider would just stand there pouting if there was something that could have been done right then and there.

Just keep one thing in mind, If Dish, Directv, and Cable prices weren't getting out of control, People wouldn't be looking for ways to get their programming for a discount or even free.

The Providers and Networks brought all this on themselves.

They want the endusers..much like the music industry

 

[harshness]

No different than someone charging you $300 to drill a hole in the water main out in the street and offering "all the water you want for free"...

It is a lot different than that. Pretty much everyone understands that you can't tap into a community water system for free and would enter into the deal with the understanding that they were stealing.

Instead, these customers are being lead to believe that this is entirely above board and have no background to tell them otherwise other than the fundamental "too good to be true".

 

[harshness]

Here is Amazons take on it.
https://torrentfreak.com/amazon-bans-kodi-app-over-piracy-concerns-150616/

Amazon should also stop selling DVD and Blu-ray burning hardware and software by their reasoning.

 

[Troch77]

Agree
I think there is much more things and life to worry about.
Certainly not Dish and Directv's bottom line.