2007-10-03 10:29:08 · 4 answers · asked by HAI H 1 in Consumer Electronics ➔ TiVO & DVRs
Hi HAI H,
FTA receivers are perfectly legal. They do what the name implies. They allow you to receive Free To Air television signals.
The illegal part comes in when they are hacked to decode encoded TV signals. Most TV signals like HBO etc are broadcast scrambled so the FTA receivers will not get them. If you convert the receiver or have it converted to get these signals and decode then you are breaking the law.
Norm
2007-10-04 02:02:20 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I am not sure what would make a receiver illegal. I know that the popular hacking fad several years ago was to take the card that plugs into the receiver and modify it so that it permits the receiver to get all of the channels without paying a penny for them. That became a war in which the satellite company would say on one day that their mods were so smart that there can never be hacking again. Two days later hacking was back up to the original levels. That went on for years until the electronics to hack required the hackers to have a full computer dedicated to running the satellite receiver. It also required the satellite companies to have a full time program running to broadcast disabling commands for any card that was not linked to a valid subscription.
Is that the definition of an illegal receiver?
2007-10-03 17:36:04 · answer #2 · answered by Rich Z 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One is illegal.
The illegal receiver could get you federal prison time. Other than that, it is basically a receiver that has been "hacked" to use the scrambled signals.
2007-10-03 17:36:42 · answer #3 · answered by J G 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
illegal...
sorry i dont know x
2007-10-03 17:31:40 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋