The Last Word on Today FM

Puggy

Ok,

before anyone thinks I'm trying to have a go at the admins, I'm not. Also I have no grudge with NTL, I'm a fully paid up customer. But I must say I was astounded that the panel group on the Last Word tonight gave as much detail as they did!

The legalities of using such equipment to defraud a company is a no-brainer. Simple, if you had a product and someone tried to steal it from you, what would you do?

There is another side to this though, where is the reasoned adult open discussion. There are reasons why Government, the Justice System, operators like NTL etc and of course the public should discuss these issues.

Why are most services in Ireland subscription? How is public money spent in providing a service to the public. Why have the interested parties done nothing apart from putting in place a system and infrastructure that openly allows operators to charge for services that are provided free elsewhere.

Given the history of TV and broadcasting in Ireland and the level of service provided, I think most people would consider services to be unreasonably expensive and coverage to be pathetic. Most consumers in Ireland have no other option than to pay Sky.

The rest suffer in silence, and some of them are tempted. Even more so after the The Last Word.

Dont get me wrong here, I would never condone the use of this type of equipment, though I think we do need to ask questions

1) Why are people using them?

2) Apart from fines and prison, what can be done to eliminate their useage?

3) Would better value services attract more customers?

4) Why censure discussion? Its the act thats criminal.

5) If The Last Word can discuss this, should we be not adult enough to?

Kotek Besar

1. To avoid paying.
2. Changing the type of encryption (costly, requires a new STB for every customer).
3. Probably, but they'll always be people who want something for nothing.
4 & 5. In fairness, we all enjoy Boards and I understand why the management team are strict on the discussion of illegal products or activities.

None of us want to see Boards shut down or even associated with anything derogatory. There are plenty of other places that allow discussion on this subject, but I agree with the decision that Boards have taken. It's just too risky.

byte

People using these boxes are stealing a service.

Eliminating usage, that's up to UPC. There's nothing to say they're not working on the problem already, as I'm pretty sure they're aware of the problem. More so after this evening! Changing the woeful encryption system could be a start, though that may entail changing all the hardware.

Censuring the discussion of illegal TV reception has always been a rule here. THere are other forums out there that allow it. I'd doubt if boards admins need legal grief related to the discussion of such matters.

As for the Last Word.... that's their choice. I'd doubt very much if UPC were happy about the discussion, but that's their problem.

byte

To finish

I want NO more discussion about that particular segment on Today FM.