The Legality of Card Sharing

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  • firestorm
    V.I.P. Member
    • Jul 2008
    • 1550

    #16
    If you think its not illegal read this
    This guy from Liverpool in the UK was in prison for 4 months.

    Here is the story:

    THE first person in the country to be prosecuted for using sophisticated technology to illegally access Sky channels has been jailed for four months.

    Keith Cairns, 45, from Croxteth not only sold unauthorised decoder boxes but also charged his customers a monthly subscription fee - and if they did not pay they would be cut off.

    Miles Bennett, prosecuting, told Liverpool crown court that Cairns had been selling the unauthorised decoder boxes which contained software enabling the user to access Sky channels without having a decoder card and by using the internet.

    The software had been adapted so that the box believed the correct card details had been inserted to decrypt the encrypted signal.

    Cairns involvement came to light when an under-cover BSkyB investigator was at a computer market in Manchester.

    He saw Cairns running a stall on which thre was a television broadcasting a football match. Cairns explained the signal was being decoded through a server which was part of a card sharing network.

    When the investigator expressed interest Cairns said he did not have any with him and arranged for him to go to Cairns' home. At the house Cairns sold him a set-top box and one month's subscription for ?165.

    He later took out a further two months subscription while investigations continued and on June 18 officials from FACT (Federation Against Copyright Theft) raided Cairns' home in Ashwater Road and seized four decoder boxes.

    They also seized his computer and emails from his various customers were found.

    Cairns charged his customers ?15 a month subscription and paid his supplier, Rockyz, ?10 a month.

    Mr Bennett said it was estimated that over six months Cairns had made up to ?5,000 in sales and subscriptions.

    Cairns pleaded guilty to two charges involving selling unauthorised internet satellite receiver boxes and possessing four of them.

    Peter Killen, defending, said that Cairns was a hard working father of four. He is a plasterer but had always been interested in satellite and computer technology.

    Jailing Cairns, who has no previous convictions, Judge William George said, "It is clear this is a considerable operation in which many people have become involved. "

    He told Cairns that he accepted he had not been at the top of pyramid but had been retailing the stolen technology and only a custodial sentence was justified.

    After the hearing Eddy Levinten, FACT's head of communications, said, "The sentencing reflects the seriousness of the offence and sends a clear signal to those who may intend to act in a similar manner."

    h**p://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2009/08/29/liverpool-sky-tv-box-cheat-is-jailed-in-uk-first-100252-24559449/
    If you tremble with indignation at every injustice then you are a comrade of mine

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    • flyingpig
      DK Veteran
      • Aug 2009
      • 930

      #17
      Yep - If you read my post re-selling something you do not own is illegal. I agree, and remember that case and that was what he was doing.

      Comment

      • barrowmanandrew
        V.I.P. Member
        • Nov 2009
        • 3427

        #18
        i see it this way.

        by card sharing, you are receiving or attempting to receive services you have not paid for.
        fraud/theft in short...

        by running the server,
        same applies but in a larger scale....

        don't get me wrong,
        Im all for it..

        Comment

        • satsmo
          V.I.P. Member
          • Jun 2008
          • 6397

          #19
          If you make a profit from the sale or sharing of your card it is illegal. Hence why we say payservers will end the hobby. Throughout the globe there are many arrests and prosecutions but all are for commercial set ups on a medium to large scale.

          CS legalities are grey at best, but the provider will use their terms and conditions to end your service and blacklist you either way if you are caught doing so.

          We keep CS discussions to a minimum on the forum because most people tend to use/name a specific UK provider and that just brings unwanted attention which we do not need. We do however allow discussion to a certain level but if it gets too specific we tend to close or delete it for the reason above.
          I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer. - Douglas Adams

          Comment

          • TheCoder
            DK Veteran
            • Jun 2011
            • 693

            #20
            Originally posted by Pedrosky
            Are there no legal brains out there with more substansive answers, hey I could guess !!!
            Its classed as theft of service. You may think that is not theft but if you read up on the laws you'll find that depriving a rights holder of income from a service by circumventing any subscription system (ie encryption) is classed as theft of that service or conspiracy to defraud. Any person who shares in the proceeds (ie the end user) is also guilty of that same theft and possibly also the crimes of conspiracy to defraud and the receiving of stolen goods (for this purpose, a service is considered in the same way as tangible goods).

            Afaik, in the UK this has never been tested in a court. Most prosecutions are under the designs & patents acts and usually only applied to the actual servers, not the end clients.

            Comment

            • barrowmanandrew
              V.I.P. Member
              • Nov 2009
              • 3427

              #21
              Originally posted by TheCoder
              Its classed as theft of service. You may think that is not theft but if you read up on the laws you'll find that depriving a rights holder of income from a service by circumventing any subscription system (ie encryption) is classed as theft of that service or conspiracy to defraud. Any person who shares in the proceeds (ie the end user) is also guilty of that same theft and possibly also the crimes of conspiracy to defraud and the receiving of stolen goods (for this purpose, a service is considered in the same way as tangible goods).

              Afaik, in the UK this has never been tested in a court. Most prosecutions are under the designs & patents acts and usually only applied to the actual servers, not the end clients.


              agree with the above...
              exactly what i was trying to say...

              Comment

              • satsmo
                V.I.P. Member
                • Jun 2008
                • 6397

                #22
                It has never been used in any court in the World and it originated from US providers legal as far as I can remember.

                It would never be tested in court either as it would fall at the first hurdle.

                I am not of a legal profession so will never say what is per say legal or illegal especially when it comes to copyright or theft of service loop holes.
                I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer. - Douglas Adams

                Comment

                • firestorm
                  V.I.P. Member
                  • Jul 2008
                  • 1550

                  #23
                  I mod on another site and we were sent a strong letter from a well known tv company in the uk.Basically telling us that giving information on how to defraud there subscription was a criminal offense and that they would use the full force of the law against us.As we would be classed as aiding and abetting fraud of tv subscription.And there are now laws put in place to cover this under internet fraud.
                  Now if they were trying to put the willies up us or they were serious i dont know.I will try to find and edit the message but this was a few years ago and i may no longer have it.
                  If you tremble with indignation at every injustice then you are a comrade of mine

                  Comment

                  • satsmo
                    V.I.P. Member
                    • Jun 2008
                    • 6397

                    #24
                    I seen one or two of those as well mate, but I think it was classed as "civil" and not criminal, even though they try it on.

                    But a letter from these lads is usually followed by another to close the site from their Internet Police mates. So we try to keep things "legal" on our side.

                    TBH there are many sites that are blatantly advertising payservers and they stay up even with takedown notices or they just move on elsewhere. Our forums, (DK, yours and others), are a few that abide by an ethicate to appease them somewhat.

                    But here it is DF who gets these and other "cease and desist" letters and it's not nice for him to deal with. So another reason for us to keep it clean.
                    I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer. - Douglas Adams

                    Comment

                    • flyingpig
                      DK Veteran
                      • Aug 2009
                      • 930

                      #25
                      I do have a legal background, and there are no legal precedents for card sharing were it is not sold - There are for payservers and they are illegal.

                      If you own a sub and share it around your house or in another one of your homes, you cannot illegally share your own sub with yourself. As mentioned earlier - it would fail at the first hurdle **Absolutely** and that would be becuase you are a legal subscriber. It can only be a person who legally subscribes. So what is to stop you watching it in another one of your homes by sharing the sub from one property to another. Nothing.

                      You cannot steal your own service - If you share it with others who do not pay for it, then yes that may be classed as illegal - but it is the courts that decide, not the providers.

                      Comment

                      • satsmo
                        V.I.P. Member
                        • Jun 2008
                        • 6397

                        #26
                        Please present your credentials or show me your wig
                        I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer. - Douglas Adams

                        Comment

                        • flyingpig
                          DK Veteran
                          • Aug 2009
                          • 930

                          #27
                          Last time I showed my credentials was my wedding night.,., Haha...They havent been out since then!!!

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                          • C64
                            V.I.P. Member
                            • Mar 2008
                            • 2394

                            #28
                            Currently the clients have nothing to fear and the worst that has happened to servers so far is that their card is switched off - unless they were charging for services.

                            We all know it's naughty, but so is masterbation.
                            Last edited by C64; 21 October, 2011, 00:18.

                            Comment

                            • garry1312
                              DK Veteran
                              • Oct 2010
                              • 2178

                              #29
                              Originally posted by Pedrosky
                              laws and regulations as Piracy !! Is that a serious reply ?

                              and just what might they be ?

                              so the worst that you walk the plank and just who is deemed to be the pirate?
                              Piracy as in reproducing anothers product/ service i.e. movies, music, satellite service.

                              If you thought I was on about pirates the bearded guys with a parrot and a hook shouting HOO HOO HERE WE GO! then you need your head tested.


                              Rest In Peace Michael Mcharg, A true friend and although gone never forgotten. 11-10-08.

                              Comment

                              • nightmare59
                                Top Poster
                                • Sep 2011
                                • 159

                                #30
                                shouldnt it be the elegality of card sharing !!!!!!!!

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