8.0) WHAT ABOUT SECURITY?
Description
This article is from the Wireless Cable TV FAQ, by Brian J. Catlin catlin@cs.colostate.edu.
8.0) WHAT ABOUT SECURITY?
In systems that use scrambling, signal security is provided by
encoding each channel and equipping the converter with a decoding
device that responds to a pilot signal carrying a data stream with
authorization instructions. Thus, the system is totally
addressable. No (legal) converter box will have any utility
unless it is authorized for service by the central computer. All
channels, both Basic and Premium, are hard scrambled. Because the
wireless cable system is addressable, it can also accommodate pay-
per-view service.
One way to defeat this is to use an illegal converter box. These
are not as easy to find as the ones for regular cable systems.
However, a "Universal Descrambler" will probably be able to
descramble the channels. (I have not tried this).
If digital compression is used, then no scrambling is needed as a
compressed signal is impossible to watch.
According to Barry Nadler of the FCC office in Vero Beach, "There
is not any restrictions on receiving wireless cable transmissions.
There are currently restrictions on the cellular frequencies only.
If you decode scrambled signals, you are breaking the law. Cable
companies can take you to court (Title 47 Section 705) for 'Use of
information not specifically directed to you'." This means that
you may view any unscrambled/unmodified signals with your own
receiver. You may not, however, unscramble a signal without
authorization. I would like to thank David Simmons for providing
this quote to me.
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