Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

VM might want to clamp down on their own staff while they're at it.

When I originally signed up to VM (Telewest at the time) in Oct '06, the engineer that came to install everything, told me about the dodgy boxes and left me his private mobile number if I wanted to take up his offer, said he can sort it all out for me at a price...

I wasn't that clued up on such practices and declined

I'm guessing he isn't the only member of staff to do this

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

In a way yes. I see your point, but that wont happen! it never does. how many vm engineers do u know of that have / will d/c non used coax lines? its costs vm time and money + potential customers not getting thier line conected due to engineers sitting at green boxes d/c non offical lines

ive not long moved into my current house with cable in, this house has been empty for over a year! yes the cable for VM was still active and Access points all over house in each room for cable/ tv.

I know of over 30 people that have not got a current subscription with VM and are using flashed modems and other forms of boxes for tv, and quite frankly i dont blame them. No restrcitions, no outages, nothing!

I was thinking of grassin a few of them up but im not even going to waste my own breath telling VM. :sleep: Untill VM actually start delivering a decent service then they can go whistle. AS other people have stated in these replys, what do VM actually want as proof that people are using forms of equipment to obtain services they havent paid for??because by the looks of things all this advert is about is calling peoples bluff.

I also have had a letter stating about using a 3rd party box, i then rang up vm and said ive recieved this letter blah blah, come and check my house. they said sorry, it was just a warning letter stating what could happen etc.

vm do provide a decent internet conection yet thier traffic usage is Crap which sits next to the Steaming pile of crap which is called Windows Vista, ( But thats another topic).:D:D

What do us the loyal and frustrated customers get for reporting these ILEGAL crimes? jack didly squat no doubt. :td:

And they think that by shoving people on to docsis 3 will help them prevent reflashed boxes working on thier network . HA dont make me laugh:D There has been awork around this for years. :rolleyes:

ohwell we all live in hope that VM will be the daddy of all BB in the uk :erm: .... One day with better prices & better traffic management :D

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

I am sorry to say, the exact same experience I had in Wigan when I had my install done.
It seems its the some of the staff too who are to blame.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Unfortunately because of the decision to badge and uniform the installers as Virginmedia employees, they aren't, well indirectly you'll find that there will be a company like Kelly's who then in turn sub contract the installation side to another company. So in fact the installers especially, are contractors who are employed by Kelly's or one of the other companies that are around the country, to carry out installation and sometimes service work as well.

Now im not saying the even the Virginmedia employees aren't whiter than white, but with the installation side, there loyalties aren't exactly with VM.

So if you are approached by someone who are obviously doing work on the side, and also dealing in ilegal STB's/Modems, then you should report these to VM.

---------- Post added at 19:13 ---------- Previous post was at 19:08 ----------

Look at what i have highlighted, then think about it. One sentence you are saying i don't blame them for using flashed modems, then in another one, you are then complaing about VM traffic usage being cr+p.:dunce:

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Indeed... it's thieves that spoil it for the paying customer across many areas... such as shoplifters... illegal downloaders etc... puts the price up for everyone who pays (who without there wouldn't be a service!) and causes poor network performance/investment for VM.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Even if somebody reports somebody else for no benefit to themselves, how can VM identify they have a chipped box, they can't exactly walk into the house to see if they are using dodgy stbs.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

I'm sure there are quite a few things they can do without having to walk into a property.

First of which is check to see if someone actually has a valid TV account and how many STBs they have

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

How can they trace the chipped boxes, if the point of the chipped boxes is not to be detectable on the network thus VM can't do anything really!

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

They have their methods. They won't discuss them (for obvious reasons) but they do have them.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Then why are they still around today?

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

The fact they are still around does not mean that Virgin haven't detected them. All it means is that Virgin haven't acted against the owner of the box. They tend not to act against against individual people, preferring to gather evidence and prosecute those who supply.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Possible the best way currently, i can imagine it costs a small fortune so why go for the 1 person who has spent about £100 when the real profiteers are the suppliers making £1000's

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

After all, if it comes out in court that you had one box , you *could* argue that you had a legit box and they just got their results wrong. If they turn up and find 100 in your garage, it's a little harder for you to wriggle out of it.

Note: I am using the term "you" purely for conveniance. I am not implying that you (or anyone) is actually stealing service.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

haha cheers ;)

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Bit like the "TV detector vans" then ;)
Funny how TV licensing now advertise their "Hi-Tech database of every household without a license" instead! I suspect VM are the same, just trying to frighten people into not stealing services.

If they have got some method of detection then why don't they just send someone out to pull the plug at the street cab :confused:

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

I had a look on e-bay, you can get (brand new) VM cable modems flashed with a variety of firmware (no sure, what's the difference) .... They are also sold wholesale, 100 modems at discount.

If VM was slightly serious, this would not be happening...

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Not really. The BBC are quite open about how and when they use 'detection equipment' (which these days is as likely to be hand-held as installed in a van).

The database is simply more efficient in most cases. It tells the TVL people which doors to knock on. But in a few suspicious cases where they believe a TV is being used illegally and can't get access to the house to prove it, the BBC has stated that it prefers to use detection equipment rather than trying to get a search warrant.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

The detection equipment is becoming more of a non-issue these days. In halls of residences in particular, they can't do much because they can't pinpoint where the signal's coming from because there's so many signals in a small area. So when "they" send letters addressed to "The Present Occupier", I file it appropriately (under BIN); sure some of them purport to have unique IDs for each and every flat and each and every room, but IMO it's bulls**t what they get away with. I don't watch much TV anyway; most of the stuff I watch is downloaded or VOD.

And before you start stereotyping me; I have a legit Virgin STB. ;)

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

I would suggest VM go round to Car Boot sales, as l have seen quite a few being sold.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

A mate of mine,living in the same apartment building where all the residents have VM (not allowed dishes grrrr) has had a chipped box for at least 3 years,he gets every channel going and has never been questioned and his box has never not worked.Unbelievably he doesn't even have a tv license.I wonder if all this detection stuff actually is just a smokescreen to panic people into paying??
By the way I have a legit box and tv license,I can easily get a dodgy one but don't like cheating.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

No, it isn't a smokescreen. There just aren't that many detectors available and individual apartments within buildings are difficult to target.

TVL's main strategy is to scare/bully people into paying up because actually proving someone's evading the licence is an expensive and time-consuming process.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

I know at least 3 people running dodgy virginmedia hardware, they are all friends so when I go round I kinda have to bite my tounge becuase it really ****es me off. I struggle to pay my bill each month, but it always get paid and to see people getting more than me for free really grinds my axe.

I would never report them though, I don't see the point as nothing would be done about it from what I can gether in this topic, plus I am not one for reporting people for that kind of thing, especially people who I know and consider friends.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

From what I pick up on the grapevine, they go after people who they have the most information on. If someone gets in touch with VM and says "the bloke in number 6 reckons he's using a dodgy box", that gives them very little to go on.

If you chose to report someone then the more information you can collate the better.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Like most people, I know someone using a Dodgybox. It's horrible. He's got it plugged into a 37" plasma and the picture is just grim. I couldn't get RGB over SCART working, or anamorphic widescreen. Not having On Demand sucks big time! In fact, about the only thing it's been good for is laughing at the terrible 'adult' entertainment when we get back from the boozer.

I'll stick to V+, thanks!

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Its amazing how many people know of someone who has a chipped box :D

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

I must lead a very sheltered life - I don't know anyone with a dodgy box.......

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Neither do I, however VM cannot detect a dodgy box so long as it a) has its' return path cut and b) isn't pouring ingress onto the network.

TV theft can be combatted through improving conditional access / encryption. Broadband theft through enforcing BPI+.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

I agree with that, but at the end of the day its VMs network and they need to sharpen up on the abuse and security of it imo.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

As an experiment I'm very tempted to aquire a chipped box,downgrade my subscription,and see what happens (Probably will be the first person to get nicked)
There's a guy at my local who openly sells these things for £100,and get this,he drives a van with a certain logo plastered all over it!
Maybe VM should be reviewing their own security procedures.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Maybe people should report these instances?

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

are they modified VM boxes or another brand? If they are modified VM boxes I do not understand how these are slipping through the net. VM should recover used boxes and keep track of where they are. There is no excuse for not doing this and VM ultimately imo has to accept responsibility for the availability of these boxes. There is little they can do about the supply of boxes from 3rd party

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Yes the're VM boxes,some old NTL and Telewest ones as well as newer ones.I assume he's a contractor,surely a real VM employee would'nt take this kind of risk,would they?
As for recovering old boxes,I mentioned elswhere on here that I had a V+ box installed a few months back.The installer took my old one away with him.
Virgin hassled me for weeks and charged me £5 rental on the old one,insisting that I still had it,it's been resolved now,but what happened to my old box? Do they just get "lost"in the system,VM seemed to have no idea what had become of it.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

yes this system of recovering used boxes needs to change if they do not how can they expect us to take it seriously ? they are not getting serious if they can not organise collection.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Well I won't be reporting this guy,he looks a bit of a bruiser :erm:

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Excellent news.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Liked this bit from the article -
"Pc Mark Wilcock, community beat manager, said: “"People should be reminded that using set-top boxes that have been illegally modified to receive digital TV subscription channels are committing a criminal offence.
“Anyone receiving these channels and making no payment to the media company is at risk of being prosecuted"

Excellent.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Or Jailed Which is even better, then you have the problems the clonners are having at the moment gives me the hint that VM have indeed started to hit the thieving gits.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Round the corner from me that.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

i know of someone who for just £30 quid comes to your house takes the card out the box puts it into a card adaptor connected to his laptop clones the card onto a blank one. Then modifies it and hey presto you get everything and i mean everything full channels eg sky sports/movies , all adult channels , asian channels everything . I know of at least two people who has had this done and has been working for them for over 12 mths no problem all they do is downgrade to tv m and its untraceable.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

tbh if i had a bt phone line, i would have ditched ntl/vm along time ago..

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Why don't you have a BT phone line?

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Well report him them: http://www.virginmedia.com/customers/tv-fraud.php

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

My feelings are that as Virgin Clamp down on paying users with draconian STM then the more these same users will turn to having backup connections via dodgy modems.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

With the advent of the 'S' service it's not hard to imagine people using the S service along with a telephone line and M TV to keep the connection to the home running and running a cloned modem.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

nail head

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Excellent news, While virgin are at it they should check out Bowlers as well. Virgin would have there eye's opened if they visited that place on a Saturday, there is more set-tops and modems there than in Virgins warehouses

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

I thought the V+ boxes were secure but ive just seen one with full tv package no on demand though sold to someone for £100 by a VM installer

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

I heard they are like rocking horse do do to get hold off.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Yep, and pointless as fully functional non-V+ HD compatible PVRs that work are easier to get hold of.

Roll on the encryption upgrades, won't put a stop to stuff but at least raise the bar a bit.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

I might set up a meeting to see what the score is bare in mind I will not be buying one of these as I do not steal cable but I am interested in knowing the ins and outs which I will not be posting here obviously

---------- Post added at 13:56 ---------- Previous post was at 13:54 ----------


I fixed a customers pc yesterday and on his desktop was a dhcp sniffer program I asked the guy about it and he bought a V box for 50 quid and updates the card for a tenner(off another VM installer). So it looks like they are more prevelent than I thought.

I have said it before and ill say it again VM are not doing enough top track recovered boxes if they can not keep their own house in order why should they expect us to report stuff.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

I remember years back that my old Software Engineering Management lecturer gave a lecture on designing security systems. He spent two hours on the lecture and the basic upshot of it was that while we can (and indeed, should) keep making security systems more difficult to crack, it's doubtful that we ever will invent an unbreakable one. At least the people who do will end up very rich very quickly.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Look at it this way. VM will not be employing the elite coders so there will always be ways of exploiting. Also the encryption hardware? is old so its unlikely it will ever be secure. VM do not like investing so an upgrade to that is unlikely so its here to stay

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Indeed, it's all about making that bar high enough that to spend any more time, effort and money on security would outweigh the benefits of doing so.

In VM's case migration to Nagra 3 is likely good enough once done. There's quite a bit going on with the cable modem side and a concerted effort to get some modems off the network.

I did laugh yesterday reading a guy who was having to post on a 3G stick as his dodgy modems (all 9 of them) were offline. Virgin are playing catchup on this and the TV issues after total mismanagement by ntl and Telewest, having built the network and installed hardware with little regard for service theft. Think the Register story of 50Mbit theft has stung some action out of the company.

VM would probably be in a better situation as a company had not their two component companies not left so much cleanup to be done. Would be good to see a concerted security effort right from physical security with armoured and buried cabinets through to software and CPE security through stronger encryption, BPI+, etc.

---------- Post added at 14:22 ---------- Previous post was at 14:04 ----------

See PM, should save you a trek, too much detail probably for cracking-paranoid forums like this one ;)

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

no there not there all over the place and there very easy to do :D

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

I guess one reason why satellite companies spend more on encrypting their service than cable is that to steal cable you do need to be attached whereas with satellite you just need to see the satellite to receive something. Hence a thinking that lead down the line of cable companies doing less on security since there is already a physical layer present.

Note that this is simply my musings and no way implies that this is the true history for any company.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

well partly right

murdoc was always paranoid about encryption from the start.

cable in early days never gave a monkeys about it and used all the cracked crap from the usa

it was all cracked before they even switched the cable network on
the disadvantage of catv being hardwired It makes upgrading everything far more expensive


I must say my heart bleeds for em lol

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Well I for one look forward to the day that VM get this sorted once and for all.

Would be nice to see the look on these theives faces when all their dodgy kit stops working for good.

My prejudice against them has nothing at all to do with the fact that most of them are lowlife *******s obviously :D

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

they wont

a wise man once said that there is not a lock made buy man that cant be manipulated or picked. with enough determination skill and time

security is not about stopping something that is impossible Its about making it take longer.

Its a never ending game.
incidentally sky is hacked at the moment. Why do you think there advertising that there sending out new smart cards to all subscribers :D:D:D

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Picking a lock requires skill and the better the lock the more skill required.

Make it hard enough and then only the most skilled will break in. Make it different enough so that a single "pick" will only work on a single lock.

You're right though that someone will always find a way around. Having the equivalent of a large alsatian behind the locked door also helps.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

With a bit of work VM could easily put a stop to this nonsense once and for all, the problem is that the work they would need to do costs more money than they're currently spending on dealing these thieves as they discover them.

When we see the cost/benefit values start to converge a little we will hopefully see some action from Virgin.

As you say, it's probably impossible to absolutely 100% stop the modems from being 'hacked' (oh how I hate the use of that word in this context) - it shouldn't take too much time to make the act of doing so either cryptographically/mathematically unfeasible though.

---------- Post added at 11:07 ---------- Previous post was at 11:03 ----------

The problem is that it only takes one person, and frequently you'll find that these sorts of 'hacks' are the result of either one person or an extremely limited group of people.

What happens then is that they make their work available to the moronic masses with sufficient intelligence (just) to follow the written instructions provided for them and ask for help if they get stuck, who then start calling themselves l33t hax0rs and bragging about how great it is to be thieving ****.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

I think Sky are sending out new smart cards because contractually they are obliged to do so every five years and they have already overshot the deadline by 12 months. :dozey:

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

yes the cable hacks are done by small gropes it is a very what world when it comes to it :D

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

If Sky can send out new smart cards to all their subscribers, which far outnumber Virgin Media's (Sky have 8 millionish), and they can also do a complete upgrade of their boxes (late 90s, the move to digital), surely Virgin can do the same thing, right? I mean, it's only 3, 4 million TV subscribers? (total guestimate) The boxes need to be standardised, as there are too many box versions knocking about from the C+W, Telewest and ntl days. The move to a standard VBox was a good one, but that model is out of date by at least a couple of years, and they probably need something that could either handle MPEG4 + much a beefier encryption "out of the box" should VM migrate the network from MPEG-2 to MPEG4 AVC, or with a future firmware upgrade will be able to handle it. Either way, they need to sort their encryption problems out, and ease their capacity issues.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

One MAJOR difference between Sky and Virgin. Sky do not own (and therefore would not have had to pay to replace) their boxes. You say that VM only have 3-4 million customers. They do. However, each box would cost at least £20-£30 (I don't know the actual cost, so I am speculating conseveratively) to replace, so the hardware would cost at least £60 million. That is without factoring engineering or delivery costs, which could easily push the cost over £100 million.

Simply put, VM cannot afford to spend that much.

The encryption, well, IIRC, Sky have an advantage there too. They bought the company who provided theirs.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

at least we agree that stb`s dont cost 250 like they try and say

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

I didn't say I knew how much they actually cost. I said that price was me trying to speculate conservatively..

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

So Virgin would essentially have to disown their boxes after 12 months or more, like Sky do, in order to attempt to afford this?

And people wonder why bad business occurs.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Sky effectively own their own encryption system (NDS). VM would have to pay Kudelski, not only for a card-swap out but box updates too which is very expensive by all accounts.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

I have three friends who all own dodgy boxes. By and large they are all good people but cannot seem to differentiate between obtaining services that they haven't paid for and more "mainstream" theft such as burglary. One of them recently had to console their mother who had been burgled for the second time. They copy DVD's and all their kids' game consoles are chipped so they don't buy films, CD's or game software. I tackled them over this when they said burglars should be strung up by pointing out they were committing acts of theft on a daily basis. Their response? They offered me a dodgy box to "cure" my "jealousy".

My point here is that activities such as these are so deeply entrenched in the mindset of many of the UK's population that getting serious on dodgy boxes can only ever work as part of a bigger drive to change people's attitudes. I seriously cannot think of anything in my possession that I have not paid for or have not been given as a legitimate gift. I'm not trying to sound holier than though, but i was brought up by good parents and taught not to steal so I don't.

These people just don't see what they do as theft and probably never will. I won't be shopping them to anybody because they have been bloody good friends to me; they know my thoughts on their activities and we agree to disagree on the subject.

This problem is not Virgin Media's and it's not publishers of music's problem - it's society's problem.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

I think you mentioned attitude - hence VM running anti stb piracy adverts on their services.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

There is a difference with having your house burgled and stealing cable. The law is correct it is still theft however someone stealing cable is not entering someones home and going through private and personal belongings are they? Burglary has a psychological consequence where as stealing cable does not

There is however no difference in my opinion between stealing cable and copyright infringement of movies or music

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

i agree totally with you toto.how can you steer people in your direction of morality and also mine when you have the curreny nembers or parliament taking us for fools Its called.....get what you can whilst you can..our chilgren have been brought up on a ------------------------------------------------------- i'm sorry cant finish this the writing is om the wall. literallly

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

I DO NOT CONDONE WHAT I AM SAYING HERE, I HAVE TESTED FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES AND IT LASTED NO LONGER THEN 24 HOURS. I PAY £90/MONTH FOR THE SERVICES I RECEIVE AND EXPECT EVERYONE ELSE TO PAY FOR THE SERVICES THEY RECEIVE ASWELL

The only way Virgin is going to know whats happening with STB's is by physically going to the house.

The way most boxes run (or atleast should be run) is having the talkback signal cut (either by using a noise reducer that runs at 50dB, or by physically shorting the talkback circuit inside the box)
That way, when Virgin queries the box, it wont get a responce, and thinks "well must be away on holiday or something then"

This also Cuts all VoD services.

As for sending someone round.. not going to work.

The only people that would go to the house is the engineer. When I upgraded to the VIP package, they sent an engineer round to install the V+ box, the engineer admitted to me, he used to do the STB's and sell them on (So thats more theft, since he had to get the STB's from somewhere, and usually from the back of his van, thats been nicely filed up by VM)

So, VM will end up having to employ people to do it, which they arnt going to do, since that means more money lost. Especially for someone at the end of the day who still could turn around n "take a bribe" and still say "nah, they aint got anything illegal in that house"




As for the modems, different ball game.
Virgin could of fixed the problem years ago, by having all there routers (UBR's) talk to eachother, telling eachother what MAC addresses are connected, etc etc.

You cant mac clone a mac thats in-use on your ubr, the router kicks you off. Import that into all routers, and interlink them, the problem goes away, permanantly. So Virgin could be doing more to stop it. BUT THEY ARNT. They do exactly what we do in regards to the HD channels (bitch and moan, but in the end still do nothing)

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

That's not a surprise, The only time I've ever seen bloke in the pub selling a box, he was wearing a VM jacket and had a VM van.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Excellent news

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

ha ha there is something else happening soon thats going to knock all the dodgy boxes off....Lets get ready to rumble

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

...and another report to-day.

http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2...p_boxes_seized

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Anyone know if there is any kind of reward for reporting people with dodgy modems/boxes???

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

It would make sense to have some sort of scheme.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Even partial credit would be some sort of incentive

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

This hang em high sentimentality here sometimes makes me wanna puke. If you were all law abiding citizens that live a totally legal life I would respect the view but sadly some of you are not.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

But it's the "some of who are" that get naffed off when we hear people bragging about how they have all the VM services for just the minimum package price when we work dam hard to make the money to pay our way legally.

...and don't bother having ago at me about live and let live or what harm are they doing else I'll be forced to box your ears.https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2013/08/11.gif

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

There's a huge difference, imho, between wanting people to be stopped from stealing services (thus being subsidised by those of us who pay, and have no issue with paying, because that's what you do with services) and "hanging them high".

btw, the person the the linked BBC article was arrested and bailed, and the person in the MEN article was fined £700, so not exactly hung, drawn, and quartered. ;)

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Read all the threads on this subject some people post like cable theives are kiddie fiddlers

My view is this is a form of piracy and those doing it are breaking the law I accept that. But if someone downloads thousands of pounds in copyrighted material per annum are they doing anything moraly worse ? I do not think so. Its a petty crime yes its a crime I just do not understand some peoples views on it

---------- Post added at 15:23 ---------- Previous post was at 15:21 ----------

To pay your way and live your life legally means everything blanket no illegal mp3s no illegal video games no illegal movies no pot smoking or other recreational drug and so on. Someone getting heavy about a petty crime like this has to live an unblemished life or they run the risk of at the least preaching double standards

Q do you own any copied cds/movies/games without owning the original? I do therefore if I was to judge the cable thief then id be a hypocrite

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

It must be nice when life is so black and white, either/or, no shades of gray.

I see dodgy boxes like benefit fiddling, fare dodging, shoplifting or tax evasion - individually, each person isn't hurting me, but add them all up, and the people who pay taxes/bills end up paying more; I don't have an issue paying my bills/taxes, I have a serious issue paying other peoples.

Yes, I have committed minor illegalities (civil and criminal) in the past, but why should that stop me wanting dodgy box dealers/users, shoplifters, fare dodgers, etc, stopped? Are you saying that if anyone has committed any wrong, no matter how minor, they are not allowed to want other illegal acts not to happen?

btw, in answer to your questions, no/no/no.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Hand on heart I can say that I have none of the above as it's not in my makeup to have anything that has not come to me by honest means. It's not that I'm wealthy, just that if I can't afford something then I will either save up for it or go without.

LOL I have even stayed on the bus passed my stop so that I could pay for my ticket when they used to have ticket collectors, the fact that my friends got off and saved the bus fare was their choice but not an option I was happy to take myself. :D

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

I suppose it's down to numbers. I for instance will download the odd MP3, but if I find an album interesting I will buy it. I mean, it's not as if I downloaded say 1500 DVDs? :angel:

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

The quantity I download off the newsgroups is fractional to some. There is a massive amount of members on this forum who download copyrighted material I bet quite a large portion use pirated windows of some type or office or various other apps it all adds up. For example someone downloading the CS4 suite from Adobe for example and using photoshop and paint shop has cost Adobe more that a years subs to VM.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

:rant:

Yes Zing i download stuff. Yes i am no :angel:,I dont even down load much now. I have cancelled my newsgroup access i never use torrents. I find i can stream most of what i need these days However i am not making money selling what i have downloaded at trade fairs and never have, However BOX Sellers are , no i am not making money selling in pubs However BOX Sellers are and i never have , No i am not going to house's and knocking door to door and i never have However BOX Sellers are.


There is a difference between my downloading a movie and those selling boxes on ebay, at Trade fairs and anywhere else they can SELL them. This constant reference on here to its all the same and we should not be saying anything if we have done ANYTHING wrong in our life's is starting to get to me now.



I do not sell what i download, i do not go out of my way to sell to others. The main dealers of these boxes are making a small fortune on a weekly bases with sales of boxes and fixes when Vm change the encryption. They hack the boxes so the users of these boxes can watch movies and then the users who's account they have used is billed for that usage.

Then there are the people selling modems and those using them who are not just using one they use 3 or 4 at a time. I see posts on other forums of people using 4 at a time so they get as much as they can .I see posts on ebay where they are selling boxes of 50 for gods sake.These people using all these modems are stealing bandwidth that has to be paid for by VM. :mad:

They should be dealt with in a court of law and jailed for fraud and theft of service.

I still say shop the gits

:rant:

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

The differences are acedemic you downloading a film is taking money out of the pockets of the movie industry now I do not give a flying hoo har about that. VM need to start collecting boxes when they are no longer needed and they need to put their own affairs in order before asking the public to do their jobs for them

rant over

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

I went to Tesco this week and spent £130 on a load of food, two CDs and a Wii game. Oh, and some cheap clothes as I am on the dole and my redundancy money is running out.

What the **** is he going on about you think? My point is this; I treat my media services and purchase of copyrighted material the same way I treat my food shopping. I wouldn't expect to fill my trolley with £130 worth of stuff but only pay £40 at the checkout. If you want it, you pay for it - full stop. Sorry, arguements about it's ok to download a few MP3s off torrent sites etc or buying pirate DVDs does not wash with me. It's the same as stealing Mach3 blades from Boots and flogging them door to door to fuel your smack habit. Cheating Virgin media of service may not result in child prostitution but a lot of copyright theft supports just this activity. people should examine their consciences a bit more I think. Life may be a bit crap in the UK sometimes but just pay for what you want for Christ's sake and if you can't afford it don't have it. Yes I am a moralistic t**** before someone points that out!

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

I absolutely agree with you on this :) NTL need to sort their own audits out rather than encouraging customers to grass on others.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Here is the news.

You are not the only one "not making money" from what you download. You might want to think about that.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Yes, the dodgy boxes should be dealt with as a priority.....the bloody green ones out in the street with the doors hanging off and wires sticking out!! :rolleyes:

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

If you know of an open cabinet, PM me the details and I'll get it fixed. I need the exact location and ideally the cabinet number.

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Only if you're buying your stuff off someone who then uses the money for something like that.

The whole "piracy supports organised crime" argument is inherently flawed. Sure, when you're buying imitation retail dvds that have came from a 3rd world production line then you're supporting organised crime, but joe bloggs downloader who isn't paying anything and is just using torrents or newsgroups? Not a chance.

The entire online release system is not-for-profit. Every release group works for free recieving no payment. The distribution chain is not-for-profit as well, either running ads or collecting donations to cover costs. So how is the copyright theft that the vast majority of people do, going to support organised crime when it generates zero income for the people involved and when it does it's hardly enough for a crime syndicate to be run off?

Re: Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?
 

Softening your language to "online release system" as opposed to calling it what it is, i.e. copyright theft services is wrong. Not-for-profit should read "depriving people/bands/companies of revenue that is rightly theirs". It is still theft plain and simple. I agree, illegal filesharing isn't very likely to be part of or contribute to organised crime but it is still wrong.