Page 1 of itv Digital announce amnesty for pirated cards

Interesting article in The Observer`s Business section today (page 2) :

"Cash strapped itv Digital, struggling to keep a lid on mounting piracy threats that are causing it to haemorrhage millions of pounds per year, is to declare a counterfeiters` amnesty in an attempt to halt the problem (Jamie Doward writes).

"In an unprecedented move, the company...has written to its customers warning of the possible consequences if they are found using illegal pirate smart cards. The letter warns the cardholders that jail sentences and fines are a prospect if they make or use pirated cards. Subscribers are offered a `no questions asked` amnesty that will allow them to trade in any `inadvertantly acquired` pirate cards for a genuine card.

"According to FACT around 10% of subscribers...could have access to pirated cards. This suggests itv Digital...could be losing up to £3 million a month in revenues. Clamping down...could therefore lift average revenue per user 13% from £227 to £257. `Piracy is a serious issue,` said a spokesman. `This (the amnesty) is part of a multi-pronged approach to combat the problem`.

"Piracy has been a major threat to emerging broadcast plaforms in recent years. BSkyB`s old analogue service was completely hacked and its smart cards had to be changed 11 times.

"Its new digital service, however, has so far been impervious to hacking. The cable companies have had problems too, although those at itv Digital are thought to be particularly acute."


Interesting stuff - wonder what other actions constitute part of their "mlti-pronged approach" ?

Any thoughts ?

very interesting to hear but
Do they really think ppl are that stupid ??? do they not realise cheap and easily obtainable pirate cards are the only reason ppl opt for their service as opposed to sky or cable ???

l got one of those letters this weekend. l found it a little offending as l bought their pre-paid option twice. l have been offered a pirate card for about £50, but l dont watch enough TV, the channels they offer dont have much, and (of course) it would be stealing!

Sky1, E4 and MTV are good enough for me! Simpons, Sopranos, Futurama all a MUST

my cousin works as a systems techy for itv digital he says that the full system may change shortly a new transmission system is on its way they all ready send out e.c.m almost every night to scramble counterfit cards by reading some of the articles on digitalspy.co.uk is it really worth it ? prison hefty fines etc i was on a local boot sale last week when a guy was arested selling goldcards along with mp3 from out of his car my mate shelled out £15 for a card that lasted for a day dear nights viewing

yes, i agree that it would in actual fact be stealing. You are right on that one thade. But it would still have worked out cheaper to get the pirate card than pay for them 3 channels and then at least you would get the option of watching these other channels plus the ppv movies. Lets face it, you wouldnt be the first or last person to do this.
I know you will disagree with that but its just my opinion.

Well I (un)happily pay itv Digital my £40-odd a month, but only watch about five channels : the three Sky Sports Channels and the two itv Sport channels : the rest of it is rubbish (scrapped movies a year ago, and don`t miss itat all now, due to my ever increasing movie collection).

Good point above tho` - itv`s subscription figures are artificially high as prepay customers are opting for the gold card route : I presume it is they that are being written to, rather than the poor mugs like me who`ve been on subscription for two years.

Little monkeys....

But is it possible for ITV digital to find out? I`m on SKY but I do know loads of people who have these pirated cards.

?

Paul.

They can only find out if you snitch on them, and even then I doubt they`d be able to take action based on hearsay. It`s a bit like reporting your mates to Microsoft because they have a pirated version of Windows - do you think MS would actually do anything about it?

Nah, I think they`re just trying to put the wind up people.

Mike