Sky condition against using viewing card in non Sky Digibox

Johnboy1951

techdiver wrote: »

My choice is between Sky and Virgin Media. The thing I find funny is going with either option reduces the ease of access to some of the FTA channels I like to watch (the ITV channels). Sky has the advantage here as I know I can add them as "Other Channels". I am assuming that Sky would be the way to go. They have way more HD channels and with Sky Q are moving towards 4K.

Sky would have a definite advantage if they allowed you to use their card in other hardware, where you could have the benefits of both FTA and subscription TV integrated and channels listed to your liking, regardless of source.

techdiver

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Sky would have a definite advantage if they allowed you to use their card in other hardware, where you could have the benefits of both FTA and subscription TV integrated and channels listed to your liking, regardless of source.

I know.

I have an Edision OS mini. I would love to just purchase a Sky subscription and use the card in my own box. Much more flexible. Although, Sky now hardware pair their cards to their boxes, so that'll never work for the HD channels anyway.

I'm sure they could release some software that you could run on a third part box that would allow you to pair their viewing card to it. Unfortunately, it's all moving in the other direction now and devices will be more closed source than open source.

icdg

While Sky use satellite as their platform, it's quite clear that, since 1993 at any rate, but most certainly since 1998, they consider themselves to be a wireless cable television provider. It's said one of the biggest achievements of early Sky was convincing the world that their primary business was content wheras it was really carriage.

galtee boy

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Sky would have a definite advantage if they allowed you to use their card in other hardware, where you could have the benefits of both FTA and subscription TV integrated and channels listed to your liking, regardless of source.

Why are Sky so hung up on only their boxes being compatible with their subscription cards ? As long as someone pays Sky for a legitimate subscription , why should it bother Sky if it's used in another box with a suitable cam ? In fact shouldn't it save Sky some money by not having to provide someone with a new box as well as the subscription ?

icdg

Split from Sky v Virgin thread.

Note: This is not a licence to talk about the how-to use of Sky cards in boxes other than Sky Digibox. Only the rights and wrongs of the policy itself may be discussed. This is a general warning and anyone disregarding it will get a 48 hour ban

MarkAnthony

galtee boy wrote: »

Why are Sky so hung up on only their boxes being compatible with their subscription cards ? As long as someone pays Sky for a legitimate subscription , why should it bother Sky if it's used in another box with a suitable cam ? In fact shouldn't it save Sky some money by not having to provide someone with a new box as well as the subscription ?

Sky's main cost is service. Their fear, no doubt, is the end user.

Johnboy1951

Thanks for splitting this off icdg

Confining subscribers to Sky only hardware limits their exposure to other hardware and functions available elsewhere.

Knowledgeable end users could seriously affect Sky's bottom line.

galtee boy

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Thanks for splitting this off icdg

Confining subscribers to Sky only hardware limits their exposure to other hardware and functions available elsewhere.

Knowledgeable end users could seriously affect Sky's bottom line.

But surely as long as a legitimate Sky sub is being used, how would it affect Sky's bottom line ? I would have thought that the Digibox is a loss leader to get a customer signed into a subscription contract etc ?

Johnboy1951

galtee boy wrote: »

But surely as long as a legitimate Sky sub is being used, how would it affect Sky's bottom line ? I would have thought that the Digibox is a loss leader to get a customer signed into a subscription contract etc ?

I would think that if a lot of subscribers realise that the vast majority of programmes they watch are available FTA, they would be much more inclined to drop the subscription.
Really for the basic subscription there is very little not FTA.

galtee boy

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I would think that if a lot of subscribers realise that the vast majority of programmes they watch are available FTA, they would be much more inclined to drop the subscription.
Really for the basic subscription there is very little not FTA.

To a certain extent, that may be true, but people are so used to series linking, pausing, rewinding etc, that any fta box must have all those facilities. Until the holy grail of a Saorview / Freesat combined EPG pvr is ever reached and that you must admit is highly unlikely, people will stay with Sky. However at least if Sky allowed their cards to be used in other boxes, manufacturers might make a box that could combine the pay channels with the fta channels on the one EPG, allowing us to put ITV, Channel 5 etc on the same EPG as the Sky channels.

Gerry Wicklow

galtee boy wrote: »

To a certain extent, that may be true, but people are so used to series linking, pausing, rewinding etc, that any fta box must have all those facilities. Until the holy grail of a Saorview / Freesat combined EPG pvr is ever reached and that you must admit is highly unlikely, people will stay with Sky. ...........

Any decent Linux box does all that and much more but admittedly is not 'plug and play'.

galtee boy

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

Any decent Linux box does all that and much more but admittedly is not 'plug and play'.

Linux is top drawer from the little I know about it, but it's for the " anoraks" and not for the masses. Anyway, the two solutions for the Irish market, the Holy Grail of the Saorview/Freesat combined or Sky allowing their cards to be used in non Sky boxes and therefore allowing the customising of the EPG , are for the foreseeable future, just a dream.

Gerry Wicklow

Sky, like Apple, want to lock you in to their equipment (and contracts) so they have total control. FreeSat have it more or less right. Sadly Saorview couldn't organise a p**s up in a brewery and if they tried, the government would stop them supplying alcohol in case TV3 objected.

STB.

galtee boy wrote: »

Linux is top drawer from the little I know about it, but it's for the " anoraks" and not for the masses. Anyway, the two solutions for the Irish market, the Holy Grail of the Saorview/Freesat combined or Sky allowing their cards to be used in non Sky boxes and therefore allowing the customising of the EPG , are for the foreseeable future, just a dream.

Linux boxes are becoming more popular due to the narrowing gap between end users and technology. They can also be preloaded these days taking much of the setup away from the end user.

The images even mimic the Sky look. Its not a dream, the solution exists and has for some time. People are just lazy.

As regards Sky's condition, its not just to enslave people to their boxes, its to cut down on piracy. They have already married the cards to the HD boxes using secure chips. The only reason that this is not even more locked down is due to the SD boxes still out there that dont have that capability and the fact that they charge for HD content.

Johnboy1951

galtee boy wrote: »

Linux is top drawer from the little I know about it, but it's for the " anoraks" and not for the masses. Anyway, the two solutions for the Irish market, the Holy Grail of the Saorview/Freesat combined or Sky allowing their cards to be used in non Sky boxes and therefore allowing the customising of the EPG , are for the foreseeable future, just a dream.

Completely disagree.
Users of STBs have no awareness of what OS is on their device.
There is no reason any of those devices could not run a version of Linux, just as they run whatever they do now.
All it takes is for a manufacturer to build it.
Until then those who are comfortable delving into the innards of boxes will share their version of a 'suitable' Linux OS.

Capt'n Midnight

Lots of examples of SKY going out of their way to keep you locked in.

SKY remotes can be used to control your TV.
The difficulty of adding and using Other Channels.
The whole "Freesat from SKY" blatant abuse of competitors brand
Not being able to record without a subscription , not being able to view your recordings without a subscription.
The only reason you can record off the SCART output is they couldn't block it.
No HD without a card or whatever niggle they have.

Limiting access to third party hardware pretty means they have full control of the decryption and don't have to share as many secrets.


I'd love to be able to stick a SKY card in a Freesat box as a 'Top Up TV' type thing. Compared to a SKY box that doesn't have an active subscription they are very flexible.


But SKY aren't a charity and vendor lock in is the name of the game, hence bundling internet too.