Astrocloud

I am wondering what the laws are about selling cable descramblers. It used to be that you could buy them as "kits" via advertisements in the back of Popular Electronics and such.


Does anyone know if this would be completely illegal to sell on someplace like ebay?

Yalaynia

Considering that they are illegal to have, I m sure they are illegal to sell and selling on ebay I m also sure they would bust you.

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I couldnt think of anything to put here , but I guess anything would do

Astrocloud

It's not me it's my friend*.

I'm actually interested in hearing from someone who knows for sure. Like I said they used to sell them as kits. I believe that the one my friend has is from a kit.

Yalaynia

Key word is illegal meaning that if ebay found something to be stolen or illegal to sell they will call the cops or the FBI and he would be busted. Doesnt take a rocket scientist to know that satilite stealing is a crime they advertise it on TV all the time.

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I couldnt think of anything to put here , but I guess anything would do

Astrocloud

I don't know man there seem to be an awful lot of them already listed

http://search.ebay.com/search/search...y=descramblers

a2k

I know someone* who did some research on the laws a few years ago and found that because of the whole telecommunications break-up, there were all kinds of loop holes that allowed the buying, selling, and even using of illiegal descramblers. The law was something like "they had to allow third party hardware manufacturers to build cable boxes that people could buy on their own, and it is up to the owner of the cable box to notify the cable provider if they ever view any of their content".

This someone* bought a cable box on ebay from a seller that sells hundreds of these a month for a little over $100 that got all of the channels, including pay-per-view... but of course that someone never actually WATCHED any of those channels because that would have been stealing. This someone* also never downloaded any music off of PTP sites, or movies to watch on his/her laptop while flying across the country, or anything like that.

After several years of owning this cable box, this someone* finally moved and upgraded to digital cable, so they magic box no longer worked.

Those who doubt whether this can go down might be interested in doing a quick search on ebay for "cable box"...

Chingal0

Yes, it is illegal to sell. I also know someone* who has done this same thing, but with directv sattelite. This someone* earns a fairly decent living by servicing the cards and users to their advantage. Running along the same lines as borrowing cable tv w/o paying for it, it does run a hefty sentence if convicted.

As far as ebay, this someone* reccomends that people purchace certain items off of ebay because of the lack of a paper trail and attachment to said item. Anyways, that is all I know.

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iamnormal

I'm not sure but from what I under stand is its illegal to sell working units and illegal to use working units to receve cable.
I'm not sure but I think its legal to oun a unit as long as you don't use it.
The descramblers are not going to work when the cable is changed to digital.

jbrooks544

How much could the thing possibly be worth? Just tell him to throw it away, unless he didn't mind risking having to pay thousands of dollars in legal settlement if he gets caught.

My best friend was bagged and had to pay over 3 grand. His info was obtained from raid on the place he bought it from. Maybe the cable co's are the ones buying them on ebay and then suing the sellers... Totally not worth the risk.

If someone is going to commit a crime then assume that you are going to get caught. Criminals are stupid because they are able to fool themselves into thinking they won't get caught. If you are going to commit a white collar corporate crime and make 20 million dollars - and you KNOW the fine if caught will be 10 then go ahead, by all means. but if you are gonna sell a box for $89.65 and if you get caught you will be out $3,000... Well, you do the math.

nanofever

Just a bit of advice but don't fark-up on the shielding. If your box is leaking signal and affecting other people, the consequence could be bad if the cable co/FCC get wind of it.

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saltfish

This falls under the same catagory as 'tobacco' smoking equipment that is never used for tobacco.

You can buy all the cable descramblers that you want. Some private properties, such as motels and apartment compexes have their own PRIVATE cable systems, and these boxes are given to the subscribing tenants.

Now, if you were to purchase one of these, and use them on any system that you do not have the right to, you are stealing.

But.. it is NOT illegal to purchase one of these. It only becomes legal when you intend to use it on a system without permission.

-SF

floydthebarber

The moral of the story is: always pay with cash.

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xim

It is not Illegal anyone who says that it is is wrong (and Im right as usual).
Cable boxes are descramblers. And if you want to buy your own cable box nothing can stop you. But if you want to use it you have to tell the cable company and pay for their service.

Actually, im pretty sure all modern tvs have descrablers built in, which is why noone has cable boxes anymore.

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saltfish

See, around here in Indiana, anyone who has premium channels HAS to have a cable box. All of the digital cable requires a digital cable receive, which decodes all of the video. Hence, descrambler.

If every new tv had a descrambler, then everyone who had cable would have all the premium channels.

Oh, and every TV manufacturer would be in court with the cable companies.

-SF