Antisocial Virge
Diamond Member
From what I have heard about how these work is that you can "buy" all the PPV extras but the signal to charge your bill is not sent back to the cable company.
-
We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.
Intersting item on ebay...
Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
From what I have heard about how these work is that you can "buy" all the PPV extras but the signal to charge your bill is not sent back to the cable company.
SunnyD
Belgian Waffler
I've actually been getting this in my spam-email box for the last 2 weeks now.
Owning one of these will actually be a violation of that yucky DMCA - tampering with an encrypted signal is a violation of the DMCA and don't digital cable companies encrypt their "pay" channels?
Owning one of these will actually be a violation of that yucky DMCA - tampering with an encrypted signal is a violation of the DMCA and don't digital cable companies encrypt their "pay" channels?
"These are also an excellent solution to your broadband internet connection problems. If you are getting interference on your television set while connected to your broadband connection, simply installing this device prior to your cable converter will dramtically improve your reception."
There's a useful function. I think i'll get one.
Edit: After I check my local laws for legality of course, as he warns.😉
My neighbor has a court date because he tried to use such a descrambler, the police showed up two days after he installed it.
I'm not even certain that 'stealing' cable is theft IMO. I get to decide whether or not I think it's morally wrong. It may be illegal, but I still get to decide. So, some people may feel like I do - that they're getting ripped off by paying $70 a month already for cable and that stealing a few extra channels won't hurt them. That filter only works if you're already paying for a cable box - or if you bought one (unlikely).
Pot's illegal... It does NOT mean it's wrong, though.
Pot's illegal... It does NOT mean it's wrong, though.
Lame argument.....I think that cars are too expensive so since I think it should be legal to take one I think I will steal a car.......
If you are receiving something you aren't allowed to have and aren't paying then it is stealing. You can try to bend it all you want but it is still stealing. Now you can say it isn't wrong but you are just lying to yourself.
Antisocial Virge
Diamond Member
I have seen pictures of this thing from other sources months ago and it looked just like that thing.
sharkeeper
Lifer
It's a trap.
The cable companies are monitoring who buys these things.
You know the rest of the story!
Caveat Emptor!
Cheers!
The cable companies are monitoring who buys these things.
You know the rest of the story!
Caveat Emptor!
Cheers!
BTW from what I have read these things work. Just one problem. Your cable box will try to call home and the filter will remove the information from reaching the cable company so nothing will be reported. BUT since the cable box never gets a reply, the information stays in the memory of the cable box. Once you order more than 6 things it will shutdown when it is unable to report the PPVs. Then the cable guy will have to come out and fix it. Then he finds your purchases and you pay anyways.
Unless you know of a way to clear the memory of the cable box this will do you no good.
Unless you know of a way to clear the memory of the cable box this will do you no good.
sharkeeper
Lifer
Does your cable box fit in the microwave oven? 😀
Cheers!
sharkeeper
Lifer
Wrong. While I normally don't advocate the destruction of other people's property, putting non food objects containing metal in the cavity of a microwave oven will not destroy the oven! Of course I'm talking about a few seconds of magnetron power on ONLY. The white flames, plasma and choking fumes should be enough to stop the most stubborn person from leaving a pesky peripheral in there for more than 30 seconds TOPS!
Cheers!
BINGO!! we have a winner.
I looked these things up as it is to small to descramble anything, as it is juts a filter. You order something(PPV movie) and it blocks the signal from getting back to the cable comapny. BUT it stays in the memory until sent. And once the memory gets full it locks up the box.
So you need to be able to clear the memory to make ths work. And no you just can;t turn it off and let it set for a day, its hard memory, not like the stuff in your computer.
So yes it KINDA works, but there are still a pile of bugs in it.
So I would pass.
From their faq:
"The memory of your cable box can vary from unit to unit, but for the most part, the memory is only temporary. This is why, once this device is installed, it should stay installed. For further questions concerning the memory of your device, please consult the manufacturer of your cable box."
From what they write, they see the only problem as being that the cable box will remember, and then report the ppv's when you remove the filter.
After doing further research, I learned that the memory is a problem also because most boxes will not let you order any more ppvs if it still has 6 in memory. Because the memory is only temporary though, you can clear on most cable boxes by simply turning it off for a few minutes. It doesn't appear that cable companies send messages to your box just to check if there's a filter.
If you install your vcr before the box, instead of after, they won't get a response back. There are other innocent reasons why they can't communicate with your box. There's too many problems to catch people that way, and they can't prove anything without seeing the filter attached. I think that that guy mentioned above who got caught was caught using some other method.
Edit: The poster above said turning off the power is not sufficient, but a guy who called a cable box manufacturer got something different.
"They told me the way to clear the memory is to do exactly what has been done below, by turning off the box. You don't want to clear the settings but just the PPV. All this talk about, why would the memory clear if there was a power failure or why would rogers make it so easy. Well remember these boxes were designed to charge you instantly, and the PPV purchases/ pending info/etc that is stored in the box is for your information only and not the manufacturers."
It might vary from box to box BUT when I had digital cable we had to use a phone line for communication. The box had non-voilitile memory. You could turn it off for WEEKS and it would still remember. How do I know? We ordered something the last night we had digital cable. It never had a chance to call home and when I turned the box in, a week later I got a bill for what we watched. It was unpluged for at least 2 days before the cable company got their hands on it.
From searching around the internet for the hell of it, this seems to be the standard. Most people have no method to clear the memory and after 6 PPVs you are screwed.
TRENDING THREADS
-
Discussion Zen 5 Speculation (EPYC Turin and Strix Point/Granite Ridge - Ryzen 9000)- Started by DisEnchantment
- Replies: 25K
-
Discussion Intel Meteor, Arrow, Lunar & Panther Lakes + WCL Discussion Threads
- Started by Tigerick
- Replies: 24K
-
Discussion Intel current and future Lakes & Rapids thread- Started by TheF34RChannel
- Replies: 24K
-
-
