Am I breaking any law ? advice please

Ballydung · 29-01-2005 10:42pm #1

I am in the UK (england) and have an Irish sky sub, organised via family so sky have an address which is based in Ireland, I pay with my credit card each month.
I have seen various sites advertising sky cards stating that it is not illegal to use the card in another country (eg Spain) and mentioned something about EU law. I suppose its similar to using FTV card in Ireland. Anyway my question is can anybody clarify this or better still have a link to the relevent web page that backs this up, or is it a grey area ???

Many thanks

Aquos76 · 30-01-2005 1:23am

It may not be against the law, but it is breaking the terms and conditions of your $ky contract.

Ronan|Raven · 30-01-2005 1:59am

And when Rupert turns up the party is gona begin...

Danno · 01-02-2005 4:44am

Who cares?

You paid for it! Why should it matter?

intersplat · 01-02-2005 10:27am

Say goodbye to your wife and kids . Give your self up man it's not worth it . Come out with your hands up . Move slowly or we will shoot !

<The Sky police>
confidential no. 08702404040

Ulsterman 1690 · 01-02-2005 7:26pm

Show me someone who claims never to break the law and I'll show you a deluded liar

02-02-2005 11:26am

Its a grey area.
Yes you are breaking your terms and conditions and you do that at your own risk.
You are not breaking the law though in my view as you are not stealing the product you are paying for it-you are just not making either sky or the rights owners aware that you are not paying the correct rate.
Breaking Skys terms and conditions is not in itself an illegal act.
All they can do if they find out is enforce the terms and conditions and switch off the card.

They can of course sue you for damages(as rights owners may request extra monies from them for the service you are getting but not supposed to be getting) but thats an entirely different matter and at their discretion.

djpaul · 02-02-2005 2:41pm

Think of all the people breaking the law over here by having a uk card.

some are honest, others not so.

Capt'n Midnight · 02-02-2005 2:57pm

have to agree it's a grey area and none of us have pockets deep enough to take it to court and even if ya won on the EU rights, they would only change the Terms in the morning. SKY are monopolistic.

As for breaking the law, 98% of Irish Drivers broke the 30mph limit, most computer literate people have probably used dodgy software even if some were unaware of the illegality of casual copying / moving OEM's. So it wouldn't be the first time major sections of the population were criminalised by something a contract that may not be legal or moral or enforcable.

Praetorian · 02-02-2005 3:01pm

I can't see how they could find out.

watty · 02-02-2005 7:08pm

It isn't breaking the law.

On the fine print, Sky's UK T&C only apply in the UK.

The only "broken" thing is Sky's agreement to not (knowingly??) allow out of area viewing for those Providers (usually USA or Sport) who selll geographically.

If anyone ever had enough money to test in Court the USA contracts with Sky might not be legal :-)

Sky's contract with its suppliers is to take all *reasonable* precautions to limit viewing.

EU law says that if you pay for the viewing in EU it is up to you where in EU you view, and that if you view services without the legitmate card for those services then that is illegal.

1) A UK FTV card you pay for issue of card, which remains property of Sky/NDS. Your liability is limited to returning the card if asked. Even in UK, Sky has right to unconditionally disable the card (like when they do new ones).

2) A UK or Irish Sub card you pay for viewing of susbscription TV, The Cardch remains property of Sky/NDS. Your liability is limited to returning the card if asked. Even in original viewing area, Sky has right to unconditionally disable the card (like when they do new ones). Under EU law, where you use the card is your business. You have paid for a service legitimately.

Even a Retail or Mail Order can legally limit its sale to a Geographic area in EU, they can't pick and choose which citizens nor which EU country you take the good or service to after.

The Swiss are NOT EU, so they can sell their TV card to ONLY Swiss nationals. They do not care where you live. You can order it in Itally or Ireland, assuming you can prove you are Swiss. Odly they are said not to check..

The Dutch have a FTV like card. You need not be Dutch. But to purchase it you need a Dutch address, the proof is a Dutch Social Security number, which any resident / worker, even not Dutch would have. Once bought it works for a year and can be used anyplace in EU...

bf1 · 03-02-2005 9:31pm

On the piece of paper that the card is stuck to it say something along the lines 'may only be used in the UK, Isle of Man and Ireland'

Am I breaking any law ? advice please

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