chris@mimsy.UUCP (Chris Torek) (06/28/89)
In article <19791@cup.portal.com> ISW@cup.portal.com (Isaac S Wingfield) writes: >Innocent question - they're sending that scrambled signal uninvited >into my house. Exactly why is it illegal to use it for my own reasons? >If they don't want me to have it. they can keep it out (some cable >systems do just that, with bandstop filters outside the house). I know >it's not nice to sell decoders, or kits, or plans, but exactly why is >it illegal for me to make use of signals within the privacy of my own >home? The legal basis is called `theft of services'. As an analogy, it is supposed to be similar to (e.g.) a broken pay phone that thinks it has an infinite supply of quarters. Although the phone company has (accidentally) provided this free source for long distance calls, someone making calls would be acting illegally. You can, however, have fun with this. If your TV will (perhaps with a bit of judicious hardware hacking) `accidentally' receive the pay channels, you could---and note that I am not actually encouraging anyone to go out and do this---call up the cable company and have the following sort of conversation: You: <dial> <ring> Them: Calumnious Cable Company, hello, may I help you? You: Uh, yeah. I'm Joe Everyman and I subscribed to your service a while ago. I don't get the pay channels, but I just got a new TV set and when I plugged it in I discovered that it gets them anyway. Well, I don't want 'em, and I demand you stop sending them. My brother's kids come over occasionally and I don't want 'em watching X-rated stuff, and I don't want you suing me for theft of services. Them: Er, ah, please hold <pause> <click> <muzak> <click> Hello? You: Yes? Them: Mr. Fubar would like to speak to you. I will transfer you. <click> <click> Fubar: Hi, Mr. Everyman? What seems to be the problem? You: <explain again> Fubar: Oh. Someone must have accidentally authorized your descrambler box. We'll disable those channels again. <usual goodbye noises> Now you wait a day or two. If Calumnious Cable Co. calls back and says it is `fixed', tell them otherwise. If they say they never enabled the pay channels, play dumb and say `well, I'm getting 'em and I don't want em. You gotta turn 'em off.' If they do not call back, call them yourself and harrass them. You can escalate this as far as you dare, or until someone actually puts a filter on the pole to keep the signal out of your home. At that point, you can suddenly `change your mind' and decide you want *some* of the pay channels. Keep up the pressure, and eventually *something* will break. And as long as the pressure is in the direction the system is *supposed* to work, what breaks is usually the system. Bureaucracies are well reinforced against direct attacks, but `turning the crank the way it goes, only more so' . . . well, the crank tends to snap off with the bureaucracy thoroughly entangled in its own red tape. -- In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci Dept (+1 301 454 7163) Domain: chris@mimsy.umd.edu Path: uunet!mimsy!chris