set top boxes

S

Saint Helena

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I sold a few set top boxes as a hobby- not a commercial venture- to expats coming to SA on holiday in most instances. No pay tv channels were on there other than clear to air UK channels. I sold 9 and 2 to Multichoice. I bought one initially because I wanted to watch the snooker and darts on the BBC- something MC does not have rights to. I still have 2 multichoice premium paying accounts.

Now I am on trial for interception of data! Also learnt that Multichoice indirectly have been selling similar boxes encouraging people to stream iptv through its takealot service! What's going on
 
Saint Helena said:
I sold a few set top boxes as a hobby- not a commercial venture- to expats coming to SA on holiday in most instances. No pay tv channels were on there other than clear to air UK channels. I sold 9 and 2 to Multichoice. I bought one initially because I wanted to watch the snooker and darts on the BBC- something MC does not have rights to. I still have 2 multichoice premium paying accounts.

Now I am on trial for interception of data! Also learnt that Multichoice indirectly have been selling similar boxes encouraging people to stream iptv through its takealot service! What's going on
Click to expand...

No choice have no rights to sue you, bloody arrogant faks. If it's all legit, just ignore them.
 
Are your servers hosting the streams ? If not they don't have the right to go after you. If you are accessing the streams via BBC and they alllowing you access to play even through a vpn or dns service it's up to them to block the ip addresses not Multichoice's right to sue you. Its a breach of terms of service and not a legal contract . Having said that if you are selling a system that gets streams from illegitimate websites like kodi genesis add on etc then that could be a problem also if your device is not ICASA approved. Takealot sell lots of android boxes and advertise these features so not sure how they get away with it.im no lawyer but have done extensive research on this matter.
 
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The product is My TV Abroad- only clear to air channels and endorsed by UK trade and industry to serve expat community. I am not a broadcaster, If there is anything illegal it is the broadband supplier allowing it. It is not illegal to sell set top boxes I was simply a supplier who made no commercial gain and had no control over the content! NO DSTV channels were carried at all; would the UK Government get involved and help them if illegal? If Androids are illegal then they must remove ALL SAMSUNG and all Smart phones and tablets (they are co conspirators as is the SA government once they took money from you in form of import duties paid out of my own pocket)
Servers in the UK are hosting the stream. MC has no right to take me to commercial crimes court next week. Re Takealot which is 47% owned by Naspers that own Multichoice- in an email sent to me last week they claimed that none of the streaming devices were ICASA approved even those that boasted about getting 2000+ channels incl all the live sport you can imagine
 
The first thing is the regulation of independent authority

1. I AM NOT TRANSMITTING
2. I AM NOT THE BROADCASTER
3. THE ONLY THING YOU ARE GUILTY OF IS HAVING MY CHILDREN WATCH TV FROM WHERE I USED TO LIVE AND THE OTHER 9 PEOPLE I SOLD TO. Are they that worried about 9 boxes for crying in the bucket- I am sure Takealot have sold a lot more of their devices and they are commercial enterprise, not some Brit who originally just wanted to watch darts and snooker on free to air UK TV as MC never acquire rights for that
 
If the service you offer includes content that MC own the rights to in south africa you are tecnically in the wrong if you sold the content as inclusive to the deal. The best is to go see a laywer and be prepared for what is coming your way. HDCabling had a similar case, it may be worth your while to have a discussion with them.
 
Look at these links
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=574515219315916&id=241421865958588
http://www.alibaba.com/trade/search...en&CatId=&SearchText=super+sports+africa+iptv
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/435933-Cheaper-digital-TV-set-top-box-for-South-Africa
http://www.gumtree.co.za/s-android+smart+tv+box/v1q0p1
http://importer.tradekey.com/southafrica/iptv.htm (these come with Kodi on them so all channels are on it for free)
http://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-android-set-top-box.html
http://www.dutycalculator.com/dc/11...oid-top-box-from-china-to-united-states-is-0/ (seem legal to import as you have to pay duty on them so your co conspirators are the south African government as they are taking money from you)
http://newstarhk.en.alibaba.com/pro...eb9ffac2e5&crm_mtn_tracelog_log_id=8122132561 (these are the Chinese ones I will find the companies selling DSTV also

Enough to keep you going
 
How can it infringe copyright and if it did it would be the BBC and ITV that need to take me to court or the supplier in their jurisdiction!. So if it infringes copyright it states they have the rights to show the programs in SA is this the case!!!.
If yes then it is not MC to take one to court as they have no jurisdiction over that and what we need to do is let Hollywood know as they would be interested in it.
The amount of multi million pound broadcasting companies in Europe showing BBC on there network is unbelievable. The BBC lawyers will say that it is illegal. So lets turn this on it's head if the the SA government told you it would be legal to carry a gun in SA does this mean you can carry a gun in the UK. The answer is no as there is no precedent for it.

There is an email from the BBC that told one of the distributors that it had no jurisdiction as long as it was not sold in the UK
 
MC have the rights to sell the content in SA so they are the rightful owners.

I agree with you that its a mess but just trying to help you in realising that you need to take this seriously.
 
Charged for the same as AV Supply Electronic Communications contraventions- interception of data
 
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