Virgin media possibly getting serious on dodgy boxes?

[funcard_4]

Originally Posted by cimt

Look who owns Sky... Infact, you could get all the channels for free with Sky. A couple of years ago, a mate of mine had something that gave him the full list of channels for free. So it's not that secure, is it?

I bet that was a dodgy VM box , and something tells me that you probably have one too.

[cimt]

Nope, it was a Sky box. And, no. I don't have a dodgy box.

Oh for goodness sakes will people please avail themselves of the ignore function..

[supremus]

Originally Posted by piggy

not at all, do your home work...card sharing

I said "virtually". Do your home work. Card sharing systems are not generally available at your local car boot sale or from the dodgy bloke at the pub, and it requires a great deal of technical knowledge. Final conclusion: Sky is virtually piracy safe.

Back on topic: I heard the cable pirates took a bit of a hit today. Have VM finally sorted their piracy problems, or will this just be another 2-3 day break, before new software patches are implemented like last time? Any of our resident pirates got any comments?

[Fatec]

Originally Posted by supremus

I said "virtually". Do your home work. Card sharing systems are not generally available at your local car boot sale or from the dodgy bloke at the pub, and it requires a great deal of technical knowledge. Final conclusion: Sky is virtually piracy safe.

Back on topic: I heard the cable pirates took a bit of a hit today. Have VM finally sorted their piracy problems, or will this just be another 2-3 day break, before new software patches are implemented like last time? Any of our resident pirates got any comments?

You heard wrong, just another key change, boxes were up again within 1-2 hours.

Originally Posted by Fatec

You heard wrong, just another key change, boxes were up again within 1-2 hours.

It wasn't just another key change, it was similar to what happened earlier in the year when the dodgy boxes wouldn't autoupdate. It's a minor inconvenience, as the keys have to be entered manually every time they change.

No doubt a patch will bought out within a day to fix it, just like last time.

In the meantime, could you imagine the panic if they started rolling the keys, say, every hour.

[supremus]

Originally Posted by XFS03

In the meantime, could you imagine the panic if they started rolling the keys, say, every hour.

Or better yet, implemented a system that wasn't completely and utterly compromised almost a decade ago. Sky doesn't have any of these problems, why can't VM move any aspect of their service into this decade?

[Peil]

Yeah the downtime was minimal on this one - according to the guy sitting opposite me at work this evening.
Same old situation, the boxes go down, he's talking half of the town through how to update them and they are all running by the evening news as he's on his way in here.

If they really want to sort it, they really need to start pushing out a new system

[cimt]

How often do these keys get changed? And long does it take for these boxes to start working again?

Originally Posted by cimt

How often do these keys get changed? And long does it take for these boxes to start working again?

I'm not sure how often the keys change (once a week, once a fortnight?), but when they do, it is normally taken care of by the autoupdate software in the box. However, a few months ago (around April I think) VM managed to somehow bugger up the autoupdate software in the dodgy boxes so that they received incorrect keys, while legit boxes worked normally.

This meant that until someone produced a patch file, the dodgy boxes had to be updated manually every time the keys changed. I think it only took a couple of days until a fix was available.

It looks like VM have used the same method again today.

.

[supremus]

Originally Posted by XFS03

I'm not sure how often the keys change (once a week, once a fortnight?), but when they do, it is normally taken care of by the autoupdate software in the box. However, a few months ago (around April I think) VM managed to somehow bugger up the autoupdate software in the dodgy boxes so that they received incorrect keys, while legit boxes worked normally.

Yes, there was a long thread about it around here earlier in the year, where the usual MP3 thieves, movie downloaders, speed limit breakers, etc, etc, got all carried away with self-righteous indignation about the fact that anyone would break the law and "steal" from the cable companies like that.

It doesn't sound like VM have any real long-term options to keep piracy under control with their current system. If the boxes can be updated manually, it's surely just a matter of days or hours before they're back to doing it automatically again.

[funcard_4]

Just to let you know that most of the boxes are up and running again, there was a in flux of ppl running around like headless chickens trying to find out a fix. minor little code change nothing that the coders can't handle.

[broadbandking]

Originally Posted by funcard_4

Just to let you know that most of the boxes are up and running again, there was a in flux of ppl running around like headless chickens trying to find out a fix. minor little code change nothing that the coders can't handle.

I dont know if you are aware your IP can be traced to your location, just be aware of what you post on a public forum

Originally Posted by broadbandking

I dont know if you are aware your IP can be traced to your location, just be aware of what you post on a public forum

...and, hopefully, the reason why this person has been allowed to continue with his gloating on this forum is because the authorities are currently tracing his IP and address.

[joker]

Originally Posted by broadbandking

I dont know if you are aware your IP can be traced to your location, just be aware of what you post on a public forum

i'm betting that he has that all thought out to