Three Plead Guilty in Satellite TV Hacking Case

[Scott Greczkowski]

Three men indicted on a single count of violating the federal copyright law pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Anthony Battaglia Oct. 23.


According to federal prosecutors, the defendants, Jung Kwak of Oceanside, and Phillip Allison and Robert Ward, both of Seminole, Fla., admitted that beginning in March 2008 they hired computer hackers to break the latest Dish Network encryption design so that the line of satellite receiver boxes sold by Kwak would continue to have a market.
Kwak is the owner of Viewtech, an importer of the satellite boxes that allow users to obtain a limited amount of free programming, most of it consisting of ethnic and religious programs. But by reverse engineering smart cards provided by Dish, the boxes could obtain more signals illegally, prosecutors said.

Read the rest at http://www.sdbj.com/industry_article.asp?aID=141924

 

[amc1]

it doesn't pay to steal ,usually thieves get caught. 5yrs and and a hefty fine would make anyone think twice.that is why i love this site none of that crap is going on here.

 

[DirectDishNet]

The three defendants face maximum prison time of five years and $250,000 in fines at their scheduled sentencing on Jan. 22.

WOW!........ crazy!
Those guy's are just stupid. How did they think they were not going to get caught?

 

[Davage]

I guess we'll see a whole whack of Viewsat equipment showing up on Ebay really soon. I've never really tinkered with a Viewsat box, but would like to play with one to see how well it blind scans etc if I could get one for $20. With there being no hope for any sort of pirate fix for the Viewsat boxes, people will start to unload them really cheap.

 

[amc1]

i have 1 not to bad of a box.

 

[toucan-man]

A little bit more on it,,,

Equipment importer pleads guilty to hacking Dish Network signals - Denver Business Journal

Panarex is still being sued?

 

[pro96]

Hehehe.. I like how they quoted FTA to be ....

"free-to-air” satellite TV equipment designed to let U.S. viewers watch free religious and ethnic satellite TV transmissions"

 

[turbosat]

I thought ol Kwak was going to beat 'em. Hope he didn't put any of that dough in a Swiss account!

 

[crackt]

i just read a big spread in the latest telesat on viewtech. haha. 35 million a year in sales is reason enuff to be a thief i guess. its a cool article although im sure the mag wishes it was written from a different standpoint now.

crackt out,.

 

[DJ Rob]

Is Viewsat and Viewtech the same kind of receivers?
Or is Viewtech (the one quoted in the article) a totally different company?

 

[zamar23]

Will see, what this plea bargain delivers... 35M/y versus 250K fine?

 

[turbosat]

Rob, Viewtech was the corporate/importer name, Viewsat was the name they gave the boxes.

 

[digiblur]

Here's the article on Viewsat

http://www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0911/eng/viewsat.pdf
(don't remember the ports off hand on the Invacom LNBs...but it looks like they have circular hooked up) Why would you need circular hooked up? Guess you have to test if your receiver can get the NASA channel on 119 right? LOL

there's also one on Sonicview

http://www.tele-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0903/eng/sonicview.pdf

 

[Mr Tony]

ON the Invacom from left to right (if behind the dish looking up the arm at it) is
L C L C

so they have both a linear and circular hooked up

 

[Mr Tony]

Please do not post links to hack sites...

 

[tasla]

119 also has the ion channel, good from 3pm est till 12 pm, ncis, reba, criminal minds,mash, ghost whisperer, family fued and from 3 till 4 they usually have shows for kids

 

[guapoharry]

Here's the article on Viewsat

http://www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0911/eng/viewsat.pdf
(don't remember the ports off hand on the Invacom LNBs...but it looks like they have circular hooked up) Why would you need circular hooked up? Guess you have to test if your receiver can get the NASA channel on 119 right? LOL

there's also one on Sonicview

http://www.tele-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0903/eng/sonicview.pdf

That viewsat link cracked me up with the Photoshopped company logo that is made to appear like it is a sign on the building...

 

[digiblur]

That viewsat link cracked me up with the Photoshopped company logo that is made to appear like it is a sign on the building...

I didn't see any logos on the building... I thought the "3D monitor system" comments were funny. Dual, triple, quad monitors on a windows OS is nothing new guys. Neither is the IP phone system where your extension number moves with you. LOL

 

[mikelib]

The sad part is that there are innocent people who lost their jobs.

 

[gillham]

...but it looks like they have circular hooked up) Why would you need circular hooked up? Guess you have to test if your receiver can get the NASA channel on 119 right? LOL

Circular or linear doesn't really matter when the signal is unencrypted. There is nothing wrong with watching in the clear content on circular.