Orbit Showtime Network fights card sharing

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Orbit Showtime Network fights card sharing

* 2010-12-01 11:25:02 / Anita Dabek
* Last update: 2010-12-01 11:47:25
* Source: ADTV

Orbit satellite platform operator Showtime Network (OSN), based in Dubai is a considerable problem with piracy. Therefore intends to introduce new safeguards in television platforms. The first action will be directed to tens of thousands of holders of receivers with software on the Linux OS. With the new safeguards, since 19 December. will end the possibility of receiving illegal deals that platform.

- From 19 December of the viewers out of the OSN software illegally, they have no longer a possibility, because the new technology in television will not break - provides a spokeswoman for OSN.

Illegal access to OSN consists of connecting consumers to the Internet and the distribution of powers from one card (the card sharing).

Pay television provider in the Middle East has long had serious problems with piracy, ranging from broad, illegal distribution of signals by cable operators in the informal Lebanon and Egypt, the problems such as illegal use of devices based on Linux.

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Gulf pay-TV gets tough on pirates



Orbit Showtime Network (OSN), the Dubai-based pay-TV satellite operator, is getting tough on pirates stealing its satellite signals. First attack is on so-called Dreambox users in the region, reckoned to measure in the tens of thousands. Updated “silicon secure” encryption software is now included in new set-top boxes being supplied by OSN, and a switch-over will kick-in on Dec 19.

“From December 19, no-one watching OSN programmes illegally will be able to receive the signals because the new technology in these boxes cannot be cracked,” said a spokeswoman for OSN.

The Dreambox system relies on the user linking the receiver to an Internet connection, which it uses to download codes to unscramble satellite signals.

Pay-TV broadcasters in the Middle East have long suffered serious piracy problems, from widespread illegal distribution of signals by informal cable operators in the Lebanon and Egypt, to problems such as illegal use of Dreamboxes and similar card-sharing devices.

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End game for Dreambox operators in Bahrain
Manama: 12 hours and 53 minutes ago

Pirate satellite broadcasters and their customers in Bahrain could be dealt a major blow as one of the region's biggest satellite services switches to new technology to cut off illegal suppliers.

Thousands of Dreambox users will no longer be able to watch programmes on the Orbit Showtime Network (OSN) from December 19, according to officials.

A spokeswoman told our sister newspaper Gulf Daily News (GDN) the company had almost finished a 'swap project' of all OSN users' set top boxes.

'This process is ongoing all over the region, including in Bahrain,' she said.

'This means all old set top boxes are being replaced with 'silicone-secure' boxes, which are impossible to crack.

'From December 19, no-one watching OSN programmes illegally will be able to receive the signals because the new technology in these boxes cannot be cracked.'

The spokeswoman said Dreambox operators earlier took connections from OSN and then used those after cracking to offer OSN services to their subscribers.

'That will not happen now,' she said.

An illegal Dreambox operator admitted it might be the end of the road for him and countless others as far as OSN signals were concerned.

'However, we shall see how to get around it once the new technology is implemented,' he said.

'It looks quite formidable but we shall have a closer look later. We may still be able to find a way around it.'

The Dreambox system relies on the user linking the receiver to an Internet connection, which it uses to download codes to unscramble satellite signals. If the system is prevented from accessing websites that provide the necessary codes, officials say the receiver will not be able to unscramble or display the channel.

A crackdown on Dreambox was launched in October last year when the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), in collaboration with the Information Affairs Authority, instructed all 17 Internet service Providers (ISP's) to block IP addresses of illegal operators.

But, within two months, the TRA admitted the plan had failed with information communication technology (ICT) adviser on Internet security Nick Truman saying there had been no headway in blocking illegal services.

A TRA spokesman yesterday said they were not involved in the latest crackdown.

'We were, and are, just an intermediary between the providers and the Information Affairs Authority and are still in that role,' he said.

Batelco and Zain Bahrain declined to comment.

OSN recently re-located its regional headquarters from Bahrain to Dubai, but pledged all service facilities would go on as usual and none of its customers would face any problems.

It also refused to accept suggestions that the move had anything to do with Bahrain's inability to clampdown on the Dreambox