Digital channels with a growing number of black viewers
With the Dreambox digital TV decoder, a growing number of black TV viewers in Switzerland are consuming the entire Cablecom and Teleclub offering free of charge, saving thousands of francs a year. The providers are considering legal action.
With the Dreambox digital TV decoder, a growing number of black TV viewers in Switzerland are consuming the entire Cablecom and Teleclub offering free of charge, saving thousands of francs a year. The providers are considering legal action.
According to research by the Sonntagszeitung newspaper, the Dreambox can be used to watch the entire digital television offering from Cablecom and Teleclub free of charge. The annual subscription fees of CHF 3,000 for the almost one hundred television channels and the rental of the Cablecom reception box can be saved by the black viewers. Confronted with the findings of the SonntagsZeitung, Cablecom, which would have preferred to keep the problem under wraps, admitted: "We have a problem with the Dreambox". Since the beginning of the year, it has been noticed that people outside the hacker scene have increasingly been misusing the device. Osterwalder therefore fears that the first decoders could soon appear in discount chains.
Buying the legal hardware is not enough. Desperate Swiss people are asking for help in forums: they have purchased the device from the German company Dream Multimedia, but were unable to find the hacked software on the Internet or were unable to load it onto the box. However, if you pay 400 francs or more, you can obtain a suitably modified device from the hacker scene. Cablecom is also aware of store owners who sell such receivers under the table. "We are keeping a close eye on the dealer network," says Osterwalder. Initial criminal proceedings have been initiated. Cablecom is also relying on denunciation. "We have informants and investigate every suspicion." Criminal proceedings, police house searches early in the morning and an entry in the criminal register are intended to deter potential illegal viewers.
According to research by the Sonntagszeitung newspaper, the Dreambox can be used to watch the entire digital television offering from Cablecom and Teleclub free of charge. The annual subscription fees of CHF 3,000 for the almost one hundred television channels and the rental of the Cablecom reception box can be saved by the black viewers. Confronted with the findings of the SonntagsZeitung, Cablecom, which would have preferred to keep the problem under wraps, admitted: "We have a problem with the Dreambox". Since the beginning of the year, it has been noticed that people outside the hacker scene have increasingly been misusing the device. Osterwalder therefore fears that the first decoders could soon appear in discount chains.
Buying the legal hardware is not enough. Desperate Swiss people are asking for help in forums: they have purchased the device from the German company Dream Multimedia, but were unable to find the hacked software on the Internet or were unable to load it onto the box. However, if you pay 400 francs or more, you can obtain a suitably modified device from the hacker scene. Cablecom is also aware of store owners who sell such receivers under the table. "We are keeping a close eye on the dealer network," says Osterwalder. Initial criminal proceedings have been initiated. Cablecom is also relying on denunciation. "We have informants and investigate every suspicion." Criminal proceedings, police house searches early in the morning and an entry in the criminal register are intended to deter potential illegal viewers.
