176 lines
8.7 KiB
Plaintext
176 lines
8.7 KiB
Plaintext
******************************************************************
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*---------------- Syndicated Hack Watch - 09:1993 ---------------*
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******************************************************************
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*-------------- Special Projects BBS +353-51-50143 --------------*
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*-------------- SysOp: John McCormac --------------*
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******************************************************************
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*------------- (c) 1993 MC2 (Publications Division) -------------*
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*--------------- 22 Viewmount, Waterford Ireland ----------------*
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******************************************************************
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******************************************************************
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Syndicated Hack Watch is copyrighted material. All unauthorised
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reproduction whether in whole or in part, in any language will be
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suitably dealt with.
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******************************************************************
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Contact Numbers:
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Voice: +353-51-73640
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Fax: +353-51-73640
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BBS: +353-51-50143 HST - Special Projects BBS
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E-mail: mc2@cix.compulink.com.uk
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FidoNet: 2:263/402
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******************************************************************
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Red Hot TV Makes A Comeback
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With apologies to Mark Twain, it would seem that the rumours of
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Red Hot Television's death were greatly exaggerated. The channel
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has made a comeback. The transponder and the satellite have
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changed. It now transmits via the HTV transponder on Eutelsat 2-F3
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at 16 Degrees East. The transmission times are roughly the same
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but the programming has improved - if that is the correct word.
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Prior to the channel returning there were promotional tapes
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running on the transponder that Red Hot Television was to use. The
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adverts featured a lady doing suggestive manoeuvres with a banana
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and cream. The transmissions were in the clear.
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Apparently the channel had to go on the air without their main
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programming. The broadcast facilities were almost non-existent.
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The link was done from what appeared to be a back garden. Contact
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numbers were written on pieces of card board. All in all it was a
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tribute to the determination of the channel to get back on the
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air.
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The programming manager explained that the tapes for the opening
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night's transmission were lost in transit. He referred to the
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situation as a "cock up". A colloquial English expression that
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proved an unfortunate choice of words given the nature of the
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channel. As a direct result of the lack of programming, he went on
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to explain, they had to use some of the old programming tapes that
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they transmitted previously.
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These old programming tapes were encoded with the Enigma-1
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scrambling system. Unfortunately they were not gen-locked. As a
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result the VideoCrypt decoders could not decode the signals. They
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were intermittently triggered and the contact number of Red Hot
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Television's Dutch office was displayed after the channel
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identifier.
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During the link on the opening transmission, the pattern of
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scrambling systems was outlined. They would alternate the
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scrambling systems between SAVE and Enigma-1. A number of red
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smart cards were waved on the screen. When all of the subscribers
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to the channel have their cards, the channel will switch over to
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Enigma-1.
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The pirate SAVE descramblers still work. It was possible to watch
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the SAVE scrambled signals with the same descramblers that worked
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before the channel went off the air. Of course there are probably
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a few people who sent their descramblers into some of the more
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questionable offers published in the satellite television press in
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the last few months.
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The programming on the channel has taken on a more coherent form
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in that there are now more advertising tie-ins. Viewer's home
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videos are being screened regularly. An contact service for the
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particularly broad minded is offered with photos, blurbs and box
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numbers. Every so often the contact telephone numbers for the
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national subscription agents scroll across the screen.
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Red Hot Television is still banned in the UK. It is legal to
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receive the channel in virtually every other country in Europe. In
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Ireland, the subscription rate per annum is <20>165. The fact that
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the channel is going to use a smart card based system that is
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compatible with the VideoCrypt system makes the proscription order
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into a bad joke.
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A smart card is a very easy piece of equipment to move through the
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post. The telephone numbers are shown on screen, often in the
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clear. All the information that is required to subscribe to the
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channel is there. Sending smart card into the UK has not been
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difficult. It is now a commonplace occurrence.
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The problem now for Red Hot Television is to convince people to
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subscribe to the service. The fact that some so-called journalists
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claimed that the channel was dead has not helped matters. The
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satellite viewing public has been burned by porn channels that
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never started. The consumer satellite television press has adverts
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from a number of channels who propose to broadcast. Some claim
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that they will use VideoCrypt. Others offer a discount to Red Hot
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Television subscribers. They are encouraged to send their SAVE
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descrambler for an upgrade that will allow them to receive this
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new channel. It would seem that this channel never expected Red
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Hot Television to make it back on the air.
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According to some sources there are pirate cards available for Red
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Hot Television. This is rather an unfortunate state of affairs as
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Red Hot Television has not even supplied all of its subscribers
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with cards yet.
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Active Logic - Treading On Thin Ice.
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It would seem that old habits die hard. PR Technology's method are
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once more being employed. Though this is not surprising. The
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advert in the September issue of the consumer satellite television
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magazine, "What Satellite" enticed many to call and a few to
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foolishly purchase.
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One of the main products that Active Logic are selling is a
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version of the Ho Lee Fook chip. This is the replacement for the
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8052 in the official decoder. Its only use is to hack the Sky pay
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channels. But according to the purple prose of the Active Logic
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promotional material it is a Universal VideoCrypt Scrambling
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Detector. It will tell the user whether the signal is soft-
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encrypted, hard-encrypted or clear.
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As a get-out clause they went on to say that they had been told by
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some customers that the chip had enabled the descrambling of
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scrambled channels after their subscriptions had expired. Active
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Logic of course advised that the programme providers should be
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paid. They also said that Active Logic accept no liabilities. Its
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kind of strange. Here they were selling a device with only one
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function but claiming it was for a different purpose.
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Perhaps the final indictment is that Active Logic claim that all
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of the orders are processed through their German office. The
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points are made that UK law cannot be enforced there and that the
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customer is technically buying from abroad.
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What is amazing is that Sky and News Datacom have not moved
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against them. They would have a good case as the 8752 Ho Lee Fook
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chip is illegal in the UK. Perhaps they have not moved because
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they think that Active Logic will damage the Blackbox Industry in
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the UK by sewing the seeds of distrust.
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Sky And Pay Per View.
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Sky's plans for Pay Per View have been affected by the Ho Lee Fook
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hack. They had intended to introduce PPV but the fact that the
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source code from the card and the 8052 are known stopped them. The
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danger of a pirate PPV card with infinite tokens was far more
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worrying than the Ho Lee Fook hack because the price of the
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programming would be higher.
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The datastream for the PPV signal would be different to that of
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the official subscriber card. The primary difference would be that
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the programming would be allocated a token value. When the
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"Authorise Button" on the front of the decoder was pressed, the
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token value would be deducted from the token reservoir available
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in the PPV card.
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The original plan may involved using a token resevoir on the
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actual Sky subscriber card. This meant that viewers would be
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allocated a specified number of tokens. When they had used them
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all, they could ring up Sky's subscriber management centre and
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order more.
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Most of the PPV routines are in the 8052. This 8052 has been
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dumped and the source code has been in circulation for the last
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few years. Therefore it would be a very serious mistake for Sky
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and News Datacom to use this initial approach to PPV.
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