Does this PPV trick still work for VM staff & others?
15-03-2021, 01:26
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#1
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cf.mega poster
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 10,048
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Does this PPV trick still work for VM staff & others?
A former VM member of staff from about 20 years ago recently told me that it wasn't possible for anyone to tamper with an (open) cabinet to obtain free PPV.
He went on to say that, though it may have changed now with newer technology, back then every cable box had a unique address so when you added a PPV movie it would only authorise it on that box.
You could, however, take your box to someone else's house in the same area and carry on watching! He did this a number of times when he visited friends as he was on a staff discount package so got cheaper PPV.
Does each box still have a unique address (I would assume so now that they are connected to the internet). Is it still possible to take your box to a friends to watch a paid for PPV?
I think that when you paid for a PPV, you had access to it for so long (24 hours?) so if a film/sporting event was good, you could take it to a friends to share. If you were VM staff on a discount, you could pay for it at your home & lend your box to a friend in order for them to benefit from your discount (obviously they would have to reimburse what you had paid).
Would the system behave as though you were at home if you used your box on someone else's connection?
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15-03-2021, 13:31
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#2
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laeva recumbens anguis
Cable Forum Team
Join Date: Jun 2006
Age: 67
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Re: Does this PPV trick still work for VM staff & others?
Why do you ask?
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15-03-2021, 13:49
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#3
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cf.addict
Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 445
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Re: Does this PPV trick still work for VM staff & others?
Seems like a lot of effort.
If it was a decent enough sporting event, pop round to your pals with the discount - chip in for a couple of case of beer and your friend pays for the PPV charge.
(Obviously once the whole covid thing has blown over)
Last edited by ScottishSteve; 15-03-2021 at 14:02.
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15-03-2021, 14:24
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#4
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cf.mega poster
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Jupiter
Services: Giganet broadband 1gbs, netflix, Peacock,HBOMAX, kodi
Posts: 1,099
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Re: Does this PPV trick still work for VM staff & others?
Wouldn't the purchase be linked to your viewing card now?
Does the 360 have a viewing card?
I'd also imagine your box would have a mac address which connects it to your account too.
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15-03-2021, 14:27
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#5
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Virgin Media Staff
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Manchester
Services: 360 x2, Maxit TV, Sky Sports and Sky Cinema. Gig1
Posts: 17,929
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Re: Does this PPV trick still work for VM staff & others?
No current Virgin TV box has a physical Smartcard. All package authorisation is handled internally within the boxes.
Also there are no PPV discounts for staff. We pay the same as everyone else does.
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16-03-2021, 01:47
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#6
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An Awesome Dude
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 3,865
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Back in the 80s and 90s when we had analogue cable,PPV put a code in your box so the box knew to give you that movie..... If you unplugged the cable wire BEFORE THE END OF THE MOVIE,you would still have the code and the next time that code was used you would get a free movie........ (They used the same 10 codes everyday)
Alot of neat tricks could be done on analogue cable.........
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16-03-2021, 21:30
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#7
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cf.geek
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Waterlooville
Services: 125Mb VM BB. Prime, XBMC. Paramount+, Netflix, D+
Posts: 919
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Re: Does this PPV trick still work for VM staff & others?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dude111
Back in the 80s and 90s when we had analogue cable,PPV put a code in your box so the box knew to give you that movie..... If you unplugged the cable wire BEFORE THE END OF THE MOVIE,you would still have the code and the next time that code was used you would get a free movie........ (They used the same 10 codes everyday)
Alot of neat tricks could be done on analogue cable.........
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Indeed, I knew a few people who had chipped boxes.
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17-03-2021, 04:05
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#8
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cf.mega poster
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 10,048
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Re: Does this PPV trick still work for VM staff & others?
Thanks for the replies.
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17-03-2021, 09:55
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#9
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Architect of Ideas
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 10,316
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Re: Does this PPV trick still work for VM staff & others?
Back in the day I took a V+ HD box to a friend's house it connected to the network no problem.
Took it home and it wouldn't connect for VOD etc. presumably the network was refusing an IP because it was "connected" elsewhere. Took about a week to reconnect. Seemed strange it worked the first time but didn't a second.
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18-03-2021, 06:52
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#10
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An Awesome Dude
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 3,865
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by johnathome
Indeed, I knew a few people who had chipped boxes.
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Ah man!!
Then they came out with newer SA boxs (8580 and up I think) that have BB (Base band) and those you couldnt keep the code with even if you unplugged it before the end of the movie (It read the data stream and saw what he current code was) but I discovered if you added say channel 64 to LOCK OUT,it would ignore that channel and would keep the code  (And next time that code was used your box would blink)
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