Satellite Watch News January 1997 Issue
News, Rumors, Bits 'N Pieces


Sentencing Set-Top Pirates

The father/son team of Gene and Joe Abboud of Council Bluffs, Iowa have been ordered to pay fines for their indictment last April on 23 felony counts. Sentencing for the two was scheduled for Dec. 12. Originally the two were charged with wire fraud, conspiracy, unauthorized interception of cable service and money laundering. Both pled guilty recently to five felonies, all related to the unauthorized reception charges. The Federal judge presiding over the case imposed fines on the pair totaling over $1 million dollars. Joe Abboud, 34, was ordered to pay $1 million; Gene Abboud, 64, was ordered to pay $50,000; M.D. Electronics, one of the business the two operated, was ordered to pay $50,000 plus the $633,000 (in equipment and related items) taken during the raids was forfeited. The 10,000+ set-tops and high-tech computer equipment taken from the business will not be returned.


NFL Nabs New York Establishments


The NFL "No Pay, No Play - You Play, You Pay" policy continues. Recently, The NFL filed suits against 11 New York City establishments for showing NFL Sunday Ticket Games without a commercial licensing agreement with NFL Enterprises. These 11 are among over 200 commercial establishments to be sued by the NFL for signal piracy. According to reports, NFL investigators tagged these establishments on Sept. 8 and 22, 1996.
Investigators also identified a number of suspected violators in Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Miami, Los Angeles and Fort Erie, Ontario. Fort Erie, which is across the Canadian/US border from Buffalo, NY, was targeted when investigators were tipped off by the number of NY-licensed cars in the their parking lot.
As part of their security program, the NFL has introduced a piracy hotline and are asking people to "blow the whistle" on suspected violators by calling 1-888-NFL-CHEK.


Cable Piracy On The Web


Estimates from the cable security experts indicate that there are over 2,000 web sites posted by hardware pirates, from small operations to major wholesalers. The sites are growing at a very fast pace, so fast that the NCTA's (National Cable Television Association) signal-theft committee is considering creating a web site of their own to counter the pirate's claims and remind consumers that cable theft is illegal. The web site issues are so complicated that recently interested parties met in Switzerland to begin sorting out some of the copyright issues.
Attempts to regulate content in the US, such as federal initiative against pornography on the Internet, have already been challenged. Experts are predicting that no cable operator will be willing to initiate an expensive First Amendment case on Internet content to stop the pirates. At this time all investigators can do is go after the Web pirates in the same manner as they do printed advertisers, by going undercover.
International coverage of the web sites is the biggest concern to the manufacturers and vendors. Consumers in countries where media is a controlled-environment have not seen ads of this type before. According to a spokesperson for General Instruments, if a customer of GI, in a foreign country, spots a nice colorful ad with our name on it, fears that it may be too enticing for them to resist. Experts are concerned with the size and nature of the Web to the extent that it may cause an increase in illegal set-top sales.


175 "Black Boxes" Retrieved


Unauthorized viewers in Rhode Island received a programming surprise on Nov. 9 when they tuned in the Tyson-Holyfield fight. Instead of the anticipated fight they received a screen stating "On Nov. 9, electronic security detected an illegal decoding device at this address." Following the message, they hear the theme to the hit show "Cops" and viewed a video of police approaching a house. Viewers were warned to turn in their black boxes to their local cable provider by 7:30 p.m. or face prosecution.
The local provider, Full Channel Cable's system, is a 100 percent mapped addressable system, and by using a combination of technologies, the message was delivered only to the target group. More than 175 people turned in one or more unauthorized decoders. There may have been more, but with local TV trucks parked outside Full Channel Cable's office, some called in and acknowledged they had decoders to turn in but didn't want to be photographed. The company extended the deadline for two more days for those callers. For those who didn't respond, Full Channel will continue to repeat the message on different channels, until the problem is resolved.
In conjunction, Showtime Event Television (SET) initiated their own form of anti-theft measures. Viewers with illegal decoders nationwide saw an offer for prizes if they called an 800 number and repeated the code they read on their screens. Automatic number-identification technology allowed operators to track back to the signal thieves. According to reports, the recordings of the conversations will be used in court proceedings against those who did not turn in their illegal decoders.


HBO Ad Angers Union


The Utility Workers Union of America put the heat on HBO for airing a commercial which shows two young boys finding a "downed wire" and then pulling on it. UWUA president sent a letter to HBO requesting them to drop the ad due to the nature of it. "We are constantly reminding both children and adults to never touch a "downed wire". HBO has since then taken the ad off the air. An HBO spokesman stated that the commercial was part of a promotional campaign which is over now and that it "was clearly intended to be a fantasy", such as the talking chimpanzees ad.
Regardless of their intentions, we at SWN feel the ad could of sent the wrong message to the "believe what they see" youth of our country.


Time Warner Battle With Fox Continues


The battle between Time Warner and New Corp.'s Fox Television is heating up which could involve Super Bowl coverage. According to reports, Fox ran a nationwide full page ads recently, claiming Time Warner and its cable TV operations will take the network off systems in several cities beginning Jan. 1. Fox contends the cable operators won't renegotiate contracts for access to its recently acquired local stations.
In one ad, Fox maintains that it asked Time Warner Cable to negotiate a new agreement. "Time Warner's response has been to file a lawsuit. We at Fox are very hopeful that a new agreement can be reached...so that programs will be available."
Time Warner attests that Fox is threatening to cut off the signal because the cable company isn't carrying Fox News Channel in New York City. Time Warner, claiming they didn't need to renegotiate contracts, filed a lawsuit in Florida to force Fox to abide by contracts between the two companies, which, according to a Time Warner spokesperson, should be good through 1999.
What this could mean is that football fans in Tampa, Austin, Kansas City, Milwaukee and Detroit, where Time Warner owns cable systems, may lose their Fox affiliates and miss the televised Super Bowl.

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