Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter_
It is Virgin Media property and therefore is not available for sale to the general public, so if you purchase a device or are given one then you are receiving stolen property, how clear do you need it to be.
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You seem (perhaps wilfully) to be missing the point. In Post 2 you used the phrase "receiving stolen goods". That is a specific criminal offence, and one which someone buying an ex-subscriber's box off eBay is
not committing, for the reasons Andy explained to you.
The purchaser is not "receiving" in the legal sense and the goods are not "stolen" in the legal sense. Providing the seller knew he was acting dishonestly what he has done is commit a fraud. Providing the OP's intention was to use the box to dishonestly avoid VM charges (such as the Tivo charge he mentioned in post 1) then he also is open to an accusation of fraud.
In both cases such charges would be brought under the Fraud Act, which was deliberately written to make such fraudulent acts the equivalent of theft in circumstances where what has happened falls outside the legal definition of theft.