spp@ucbcad.UUCP (08/06/84)
re: descrambling subscrition TV (legality) It has been alleged on the net that it's illegal to descramble subscription TV. It's my opinion that this is true only in those areas of the country where a local court has so ruled. I believe that asides from this, it's perfectly legal to receive any transmission so long as you don't make commercial use of it (i.e., selling either decoders or the broadcast itself). Could someone who disagees with me cite an actual law or case history to support their claim? steve pope ( ..ucbvax!spp)
abh@ccivax.UUCP (Andrew X. Hudson) (08/08/84)
I believe that the point of local jurisdictions having say of subscription services is correct. However you may have problems with the subscription business if you are caught. For instance it is a common practice to among cable tv companies to charge you through the nose if you are caught with a channel splitter. Its a matter of losing the service, not going to court. I believe many phone companies are the same way. Andrew Hudson -- "Freedom of choice is what you got Freedom from choice is what you want" - DEVO ...[rlgvax | decvax | ucbvax!allegra]!rochester!ritcv!ccivax!abh
mikey@trsvax.UUCP (08/11/84)
#R:ucbcad:-2110000300:trsvax:55100048:000:1391 trsvax!mikey Aug 11 09:34:00 1984 In some localities, the deciding factor on descrambling seems to be if you intercepted the signal ahead of the box. I read of a case in Wisconson (I think) where the receiver was connected ahead of the cable company provided tuner box. More and more cable companies are starting to set there boxes up so that they cannot be disconnected from the line without cutting the cable or having a special tool. I think that this was originally so that neighbors couldn't share boxes. There has been a lot of argument as to at what point interception becomes illegal. From my OWN point of view, anything that is piped into my house or broadcast that I can pick up, I feel that I can do with it as I please, as long as I do so for personal use. I just won't tamper with their equipment, but if I already split and distribute the signal through my house before the converter box, it's MINE! There are some gottchas. If it was broadcast and you record it, it may be illegal due to the clause in the communications act of 1934 that says that you can't divulge anything that you receive or other such laws that really apply only by accident. Personally, I just dropped my local cable. I felt that it was too expensive. They took WOR-9 (NYC) off the cable and I don't like subsidizing garbage like MTV and some of the other FREEBIES that are wasted cable space. mikey at trsvax
hrs@houxb.UUCP (H.SILBIGER) (08/13/84)
It was mentioned that some cable companies hard-wire the lead-in to the box to prevent decoding before using the box, on the presumption that it would be illegal to do it after the channel selector box. I have never heard that, but have signed a contract with them in which it states that I may not decode the signal as it is being supplied to my tv. I assume that most cable companies have similar clauses in their contracts, which all of you subscribers have signed. Thus, even if it is not illegal, it is a breach of contract for which they can discontinue service if they catch you. As a hypothetical case (hypothetical because I don't own a VCR or any kind of descrambler), what if one recorded the scrambled signal on a VCR, and at some later date played it back and then descrambled it? Once the tape is being decoded, and not the live broadcast, would the prohibition still apply. Most cable companies also charge a rental for their channel selector box. I am curious if they would permit you to use your own box instead of theirs. Herman Silbiger
mmr@utmbvax.UUCP (Mike Rubenstein) (08/15/84)
The cable companies I'm familiar with will allow you to use your own channel selector box (or just not use theirs if your TV can pick up all the channels). Note that the channel selector boxes you can get legally do not decode the encrypted channels. I don't think you save all that much by using your own box, but most of the one's I've seen translate to UHF so you can use your remote control and your VCR. Most VCRs cannot record an encrypted signal in such a way that it can be decoded. While I've never actually asked about splitting the signal for use with a VCR, the installer (and the repairman one time when I had a problem) certainly saw my setup to split the signal for the VCR (I made no attempt to hide it). Neither commented or seemed to see anything unusual about it. -- Mike Rubenstein, OACB, UT Medical Branch, Galveston TX 77550
smb@ulysses.UUCP (Steven Bellovin) (08/16/84)
There is a crime known as "theft of service"; you can be charged with it for riding a train without paying a fare, for example. I suspect that this would apply to decoding pay cable services as well. It might not stick, of course, but you might run up a nice legal bill in the mean time.