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DirecTV takes on PirateDen.com
IgD writes "Pirate's Den is a DirecTV hacking website based in Canada. The site features a very busy chat forum where 'hobbyists' research and discuss ways of hacking satellite TV. The site makes money by selling advertisements and subscriptions to the chat forum. The owner claims all he is engaging in is free speech. He does not appear to directly market circumvention devices. DirectTV doesn't agree however. They apparently are demanding the owner close the site, transfer the domain and pay a settlement fee. Another interesting twist to all this is the fact that DirecTV is not legally able to market its services in Canada. You can read more about this legal battle at FreedomFight.ca."
'hobbyists' research and discuss ways of hacking satellite TV
And they think police don't monitor the site? duh...
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Why would DirecTV want the domain? They have no rights to it. Now who's the pirate?
Or are they just throwing salt in the ground so that nothing grows back? (Anyone get that vague reference?)
Honestly, this is not the best use of the internet that I can think of. Sites like this will only aid those people/companies that are trying to ban everything under the sun with stuff like the DMCA.
I don't think it matters that DirecTV can't market their stuff in Canada - the Australian courts have ruled that online material is published in the nation of the reader (google for the recent Joe Gutnick defamation case heard in Australia about an online article published by a US newspaper). If the US courts see it the same (or DirecTV takes 'em on down under), they probably won't stand a chance (that's assuming it goes to court, obviously).
Personally, I think that running a site like this (and making money off it, too) is pretty darn irresponsible of the guy running it. It's kinda like waving a red rag at a bull, only you're a little kid that's tied to a stake in the ground and the bull is more of a homocidal maniac with a penchant for child-slaughter.
The PowerPC includes for this purpose two instructions called SYNC and EIEIO.
I just don't get how intercepting a signal that is located in my own yard, using equiptment that I own, that would just go into the dirt anyway, could be considered theft. Cable theft I can understand. They have physical equiptment that they own that is used to get the signal directly to my tv. The satellite signal is going to be there whether I use it or not.
The site itself is a circumvention device. It's only purpose is to facilitate the distribution of specific information on illegal exploits of a proprietary network. Not only that, but jerko webmaster here is blatently profiting from such.
An open and shut case, just you watch.
There is also the obvious fact that this is conspiracy, in the strict legal sense, and there are ample laws in both jurisdictions, as well as treaty and international law in place to curtail such behaviour.
Let's all go out this afternoon and get a life.
What you forget it that the internet is the place where national sovereignty melts away.
Did you know that Direct TV cannot be bought in Canada due to law?
Direct TV in Canada?
There are only two sat companies in Canada recognized?
Canada doesn't recognize Direct TV
Here's another article
that explains the situation.
What you have is one country setting the laws for itself, but the internet crosses all national lines.
Instead of saying this is what the DMCA will be used for focus your efforts on the fact that the DMCA should be modified. Canada is doing us a favor.
This guy and his seedy buisness are well known in email abuse groups
good job DirecTV, knocking em down one jerk at a time
DirecTV sues Slashdot.org under the DMCA for linking to an illegal site...
Go ahead. Laugh. I tells ya it just might happen!
It all comes down to the fact that if you're watchign their signals, they're not getting paid for it, and that causes a loss of profits. I don't know how their profits are doing, but if a company is starting to lose money, their first choice is to blame someone else and sue (SCO anyone?).
This is probably a gray area in the laws in the US. I'm sure some of the signals are copyrighted, so you're supposed to pay to use them. On the other hand, the signal's right there, so why not try to get at it? It's almost parallel to running Linux on the XBOX. It's there, why can't you do it? Because the company that created it doesn't want you to do it. That's why they want the DMCA.
The DMCA basically says that "if a company wants your money, they have a right to it", and here, DirectTV thinks they have a right to some money. Outside of the DMCA, however, I don't think this is well-definied in law, but IANAL.
On the other hand, don't go making a website devoted to cracking the signal. That's just asking for trouble. It'd be like if I started a website on how to pick car locks. It may be legal, but it may not be. It'd be different if they had made a name other than "Pirate's den", which is just asking for legal trouble.
I just don't get how intercepting a signal that is located in my own yard, using equiptment that I own, that would just go into the dirt anyway, could be considered theft. Cable theft I can understand. They have physical equiptment that they own that is used to get the signal directly to my tv. The satellite signal is going to be there whether I use it or not.
/sarcasm
I just don't get how intercepting a signal that is running through my own routers, using equiptment that I own, that just pass through as they would anyway, could be considered theft. Hacking the server I can understand. I have physical equiptment that I own that is used to get the signals directly. The data stream is going to be there whether I duplicate it or not.
Give me a break. You have as little right to hack satellite transmissions as you have to spy on military communications, cell phones, wireless keyboards, mouses and headphone, garage door openers, the EM emissions of my screen or anything else that happens to run across your airspace.
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Ok, frankly i cant see how DirectTV is loosing money up here in canada. They dont sell a product up here for them to loose. It would prolly cost more for them to figure out a way to block their signal from getting onto canadian soil then anything else. It shouldnt be the responsability of a Canadian entity to stop americans from viewing the site. Does china shut down sites hosted in the states that talk bad about china? No, they setup a firewall to stop chinese citizens from accessing the site. American corp. doesnt like it? Maybe they should convince the 'FREE' ( HAH! ) states to setup a country wide firewall to stop citizens from accessing information on sites they deem unnacceptable. Just because its illegal in your country doesnt mean you have any jurisdiction in my country!
Oh right. I'm going to sell my vote for access to DirecTV. As if there are absolutely no other issues to consider when electing a government.
Also, it's not illegal to acquire or use satellite signal receivers or dishes from the United States. It's illegal to sell them, and for a good reason. They don't provide any Canadian content and they don't provide Canadian commercials.
Why is this bad, you ask? Because the television industry is huge. It creates jobs, and employed people pay taxes. Taxes give us infrastructure, medicare and whatever else we need.
It's all about getting a piece of the pie.
Sue them in order to pander their non-essential wares? I think that's taking it just wee bit too far. It's fucking satellite TV here, not rations and penicillin to a war torn country.
Besides, I really doubt that you'd even get a court case like that through the door. A company suing a FOREIGN government for the right to sell TV? It even sounds ridiculous.
>Better yet, Canadian voters should elect less >socialistic/paternalistic representatives. Just a >thought
How about US voters elect one that doesnt meddle in the affairs of others, doesnt breed and support terrrorism when suit their needs and doesnt have a foreign policy whose main goal isnt the profit margin of corporations which runs the country?
Maybe voters could even vote finally for a government that doesnt for once bomb innocent civilians while systematically breaking international laws every time they breath?
Who knows maybe voters could finally vote for a government that makes sure that illiteracy isnt ramapant, that people have access to medical care and that a post secondary education doesnt bankrupt working class families?
Or they could decide that spending 40 billion a year on a failed war on drugs which arrests 835,000 pot smokers every year and which has totally ripped the constitution to shreds is doing nothing but line the pockets of groups on both sides.
Who know maybe the could demand that their governments are actually held accountable for actions or lack of actions? (the creation of Bon Laden, the dealings of the Bush famnily with BinLaden or Rumsfeld selling Korea, or Sadam, something which a few years later he claims makes them dangerous.)
Of course, if you didnt maybe a few well placed bombing runs over a few key americans cities would convince the people to over throw the current illegitimate government. This wouldnt be done to harm the civilian populations of course, never is....just a few weeks of continuouis bombing to incite the us population to take matters in their own hands.
Just a thought too...
zeke
Aiding and abetting someone to theft (of service) is still i believe a criminal offence, same as cloned cards,cable cubes etc.
I know you are a troll but I'll nail you to the wall anyways...
I have smartcard readers and writers, about 20 smartcards and assorted smartcard software. So this makes me a criminal? I use them for developing login/logout systems for linux (as well as with ibuttons) but by your standard I'm a criminal that needs to get 6000 years in prison and fined 30 gajillion dollars.. oh an let a mass morderer get only 5 years probation.. he only murdered people but I have the potential of stealing 900 quadrillion in profits form every company on the planet and magically launch all the nuclear missles...
Ok I'm blowing it way up... but I'm making a point... electronics are not criminal. owning equipment IS NOT CRIMINAL and electronic crim is not an offense that is worse than murder yet people like you and the politicians believe so.
Knowlege is power, CEO's and Governments dont like knowlege in the hands of the general public.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
There may be ample laws in both jurisdictions, but so far, the Canadian government has turned a blind eye to stealing American signals.
First, if there are laws then its not the government but the police / justice department per say that is turning a blind eye, and not the government as a whole.
If the Govenrment does not care, even if there is a law does it matter if it is technically illegal. We have all sort of laws that are not enforced and taken out eventually. Here it was illegal to be in a park before 7 and people ride their bikes every day. They only took it out recently but it was never enforced. If a law is broad stupid and never enforced or known of and police dont give a damn about it; having better things to do like our way low violent crime rate, then Kudo's.
Frankly I find it scary that corperations have so much say in making laws down in the states. We dont have as big of a lobby here. We are also forcing transperancy on all political donations and restricting contribution on donations. Thats probobly why we dont have DMCA or some other stupid laws here in the first place. Our government seems big on transparancy and according to our Freedom of Information Privacy Act we can request almost any information we want from our govenment(read it if you want to know what we can not request for privacy / legal / security reasons, but the attitude is there has to be a good reason for us not being able to request the info). I am big on keeping an eye on it even if I really cant do lots about what they are doing , irresponsible spending etc. We call them to task on stuff all the time.
Funny how the media people only tout the right of free speech when it benefits THEM.. if it doesnt, or is against them even in the slightest, then they cry foul..
---- Booth was a patriot ----
It depends.
If you're in Canada and you do something that is entirely legal in Canada while illegal in the US, then the US cant touch you.
If you're in the US, you do that illegal thing, and then run over to Canada, you're still screwed since the Canadian police will happily arrest you and extradite you (so long as its not a capital offense) to the US.
Now here's the tricky part: if you're in Canada but somehow commit the crime in the US (such as committing mail fraud or telephone fraud, which are Federal offenses since they employ infrastructure and cross state lines), you can be easily extradited from Canada just as in the previous case.
So the question is this: does the ability to access the website in the US mean that, in fact, the Canadian website perpetuated the crime in the US? Before you say a quick 'no', be aware of the recent decision by the German courts that eBay.com, despite being an American company, is subject to German law (hence the removal of their nazi paraphanelia). Now, if the US determines similarly, its quite likely that Canada will support them, considering the relationship our two countries have.
"Stumble before you crawl"
You can buy Canadian satellite/ receiver packages for the US. The dealer basically takes US$, converts to Cd$, and pays from a Canadian address and checking account for you. You can't plug the receiver into the telephone line, of course.
The advantage? Sports, especially Olympic coverage. Canadian announcers just broadcast the games without all the anchor cut-ins and opinionating. It's nice to be able to watch a complete hockey game, the American broadcasters just plain suck.
And the best thing of all, no Bob Costas! Yeah!
Wow! Now that is funny!
I don't see how... DirecTV is NOT two-way. The only way to send info back is through the phone-line, and you'd have to be a complete moron if you are hacking the DTV, and still keep the phone-line plugged-in.
Personally, I think the best way to do this is to get a DVB card for your PC, and work on the decryption key. NOT using DirecTV's reciever is the only way to do the job without the slightest risk of getting caught, or having your equipment exposed to the countermeasures.
Once again, PCs put the power back in the hands of the public.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant