MultiChoice decoder ‘hacking’ causes a stir
Brochures with the procedure were handed out in East London, after which MultiChoice issued a warning that users “who use our DStv decoders to hack into channels the company does not offer do so at their own peril.”
MultiChoice’s response to the flyers and the procedure caused quite a stir among consumers, with the satellite television provider being accused of exaggerating the procedure by using terms like ‘hacking’ and ‘backdoor’.
Comments like “I bought my decoder, so how can it be illegal to tune to public satellite transmissions” and “I think MultiChoice is scared people will realise how much more there is out there that MultiMhoice is not providing them with” dominated discussions in the MyADSL forums regarding this issue.
MultiChoice was quick to clarify the information in the original article, explaining that the decoder warranty will not be compromised if you choose to go with free-to-air settings. Multichoice did however point out that they can not be held accountable for the quality of their service if users decide to alter their settings.
Multichoice reiterated that it is entirely up to the user to take the risk of changing the recommended decoder settings, and that it is merely in the interest on ensuring the quality of service that they receive from MultiChoice that they are informing subscribers about the possible impact of such changes.
According to the original article, acting senior manager of licensing and monitoring at ICASA Bruce Mkhize, said it was illegal to access channels that did not have an agreement with MultiChoice using the company’s decoders. Some users again felt that it should not be illegal to access channels through these means, especially since they were not encoded.
Apart from the brochures that were handed out in East London ( http://www.imghost.co.za/img/137/MultiChoice.htm ) there are also other sources like ImpactRadio ( http://www.impactradio.co.za/index.php?455 ) which explains procedures for accessing additional content.
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