fish@ihu1g.UUCP (Bob Fishell) (05/03/84)
(oo)
I know there was some legislation passed recently regarding
video piracy via illicit decoders, antennas, etc, but I missed
the details. Can anybody fill me in on this?
I also know that the cable companies have a way of detecting
signal thieves by sniffing for emanations from the sets of
suspected pirates as they pass by in a truck. Can anybody
tell me more specifically how these work? For example,
do they home on the local oscillator? Suppose a legitimate,
paying cable subscriber discovers he's getting channels that
he's not paying for. Would they know about this, or are
they just looking for illegal taps into their system?
Finally, what do they do when they catch somebody? How do
they go about entering the person's home to get the evidence?
It seems that they'd have to catch somebody in the act
before they could do anything. Has anybody heard about
any case where video pirates have been successfully prosecuted?
I'm not talking about operators who make a business of selling
decoders illegally, just the small fish who are using them.
Post answers to the net, I'm sure others are interested.
--
Bob Fishell
ihnp4!ihu1g!fish