Sky TV

[JSA Aude]

Does anyone know of a sky supplier/fitter in the Carcassonne region as we are considering upgrading to sky plus but would like to use (obviously - cost/distance) someone reasonably locally.  Thanks.

[Maricopa]

Jsa Aude

Have PMd you

[Quillan]

[quote user="JSA Aude"]Does anyone know of a sky supplier/fitter in the Carcassonne region as we are considering upgrading to sky plus but would like to use (obviously - cost/distance) someone reasonably locally.  Thanks.[/quote]

Just to make you aware that technically it is illegal to use Sky outside the UK, there have been many threads on this so do a search to find out why. People who install such equipment outside the UK are not doing anything illegally until they insert the card and actually recieve the programs. You cannot contact Sky if you have a customer service problem, you are totally in the hands of the people who supply the service in France.

A large (ish) company that supplies such a service and operates from Ireland have just been closed down by Sky and all the contracts (that Sky know about) have been cancelled i.e. the cards used by the end users have been cancelled by Sky and no longer work and there is nothng they can do. I know of two people personally who have had this happen. I don't personally know of anyone being prosecuted at a personal level for receiving Sky outside the UK, what normally happens is Sky just turns off the card.

I believe you need to have the Sky+ box connected to a phone to use all it's facilities and as soon as you do so the caller ID will show the box is outside the UK. I don't know this for sure because I don't have Sky anymore but I am sure others, better qualified than I, can tell you exactly how it works and what you get or don't get.

[Mpprh]

People outside of UK have been watching Sky (and more recently UK FTA) since at least 1995. Quite a high proportion of the non French residents I know have satellite installations.

My understanding is -

Sky can not supply cards outside UK. This is because of territorial broadcast rights to films, sporting events, etc.

It is not illegal to be in possession of a satellite dish & box

It is not illegal to receive signals from a satellite

The majority of UK users in France watch the UK "Free to Air" channels, not the Sky channels

The vast majority of users have no technical problems

Peter

[Quillan]

[quote user="Mpprh"]

1) Sky can not supply cards outside UK. This is because of territorial broadcast rights to films, sporting events, etc.

2) It is not illegal to be in possession of a satellite dish & box

3) It is not illegal to receive signals from a satellite

4) The majority of UK users in France watch the UK "Free to Air" channels, not the Sky channels

5) The vast majority of users have no technical problems


Peter

[/quote]

1) Correct which is why one of the (lesser) reasons why the majority of the transmissions are encoded.

2) Absolutely.

3) Except if you are decoding them using an 'illegal' device such as a Sky card outside of the UK but then who is going to come and prosecute you. The easiest way is to turn the card off, if they ever find you that is.

4) If you remember we had this debate before and I actually contacted the BBC and ITV who offered free to air channels at that time. The ITV never answered but the BBC did and I copied the reply in to the thread which now appears to have been 'archived'. However it went something along the lines of you would be breaking the law by receiving their (BBC) programs by any other means other than where the programs are being re-transmitted in the country you reside (outside of the UK) i.e. if a BBC program is transmitted via a French transmitter then it's OK to view it in France. If it's transmitted by Sky, even though it's not encoded and you view it in another country you are technically breaking the law but then they have to find you first.

5) Is this true of a Sky+ box in as much as you can record TV programs etc. I was under the impression you need to have the thing plugged in to a phone socket to use many of it's advance features. If you don't plug it in to a phone then it just functions as an ordinary Sky box. As I said I am not too sure about this bit as I have never had a Sky+ box.

[Maricopa]

[quote user="Quillan"]

[5) Is this true of a Sky+ box in as much as you can record TV programs etc. I was under the impression you need to have the thing plugged in to a phone socket to use many of it's advance features. If you don't plug it in to a phone then it just functions as an ordinary Sky box. As I said I am not too sure about this bit as I have never had a Sky+ box.

[/quote]

As a Sky+ user, I can confirm that you can use all the features in France without being connected to a phone line.[:D]

[andyh4]

Quillan

sorry but do not put the fear of God into people who watch or would like to watch Sky outside of the British Isles.

 

 

It is NOT repeat NOT illegal to do so.

 

You will be in breach of your contract with Sky - but this is civil and not criminal law.

 

The worst that Sky could do would be to bring a civil case against users for breach of contract - and I somehow doubt they really want to loose perhaps a quarter million subscribers.

I practice the worst that happens is that if Sky discover you are outside of the UK, they deactivate your card.

[Quillan]

My aim was NOT to put the 'fear of god' up anyone but to make them aware. As I said I don't know of anyone who has been sued by Sky for using it outside the UK. I do know of an Irish based company (I don't know what actual nationality they were but they operated from Ireland) that supplied cards on the basis you paid them and they paid Sky. That company was taken to court, they had to hand over their records of whom they supplied the service to and all the cards were cancelled by Sky. Sky never sued or prosecuted anyone who actually had a card through that company.

It is illegal and the email I posted quoted from the BBC two years ago said so, perhaps you would like to email them yourself and see what they say, things may have changed in the last 24 months but I doubt it. It also went on to say much the same as Mpprh "This is because of territorial broadcast rights to films, sporting events, etc". There is also EU law which I believe says that you can't receive transmissions or rebroadcast programs from a fellow member state unless they give you permission to do so. As BBC programs are intended only for the UK you would, without express permission, be breaking EU law.

As you rightly said, which was the same as me, they just pull the plug. The other point I was trying to make is that for technical support you have to rely on the person who sold you the card and box. If you phone from France Sky uses caller ID as part of it's support software (caller ID brings up the record of the place where the box is, the owner, what services the box has, it's serial number etc.). Once they realize you are calling from outside the UK they will block your card.

As long as you know and are happy to accept this then it's down to you personally what you do. I had Sky when I came to France and I got caught out and they stopped my card. Still at least I get the FTA channels which of course according of the above is illegal but then I know the consequences and I doubt they will ever find me let alone actually do anything.

Thanks Maricopa for verifying the Sky+ bit, I understand they broadcast in Dolby Digital from some things which I am particularly interested in having a home cinema.

[cartref]

Hi

Interesting post this one as today I have decided to cancel my SKY contract totally. I have been a SKY subscriber for 12 years but like a lot of people out here in France,worry about the possibility of being 'found out' and my card withdrawn or cancelled. Having looked at the channels you can get on FTA I was gobsmacked at just how many there were. I did a quick 'for and against' of the channels I would be without and found that the only ones I would miss(?) were the Sky Sports channels as I do like to watch 'live sport' at the weekends. But as a lot of the sports are now on terrestrial channels I don't think it will be too much of a pain. I was also with SKY broadband till I moved over here permanently in September so that was costing me for not even using it!! I shall enjoy the fact that I shall now be £43 better off each month[:)] and still have enough TV to keep me happy.

cartref

[Anton Redman]

<< It is illegal and the email I posted quoted from the BBC two years ago said so, perhaps you would like to email them yourself and see what they say, things may have changed in the last 24 months but I doubt it. It also went on to say much the same as Mpprh "This is because of territorial broadcast rights to films, sporting events, etc". There is also EU law which I believe says that you can't receive transmissions or rebroadcast programs from a fellow member state unless they give you permission to do so. As BBC programs are intended only for the UK you would, without express permission, be breaking EU law. >>

I do wish people would distingish between breach of contract - a civil matter and illegal which is a criminal matter. I would not ask Robert Maxwell ( via the Ouji Board or a couple of mates in ??) or Rupert Murdoch for advice on copyright law. Why would I ask the BBC ?  

I would be grateful if you could quote chapter and verse on the EU law which says you cannot receive programs from another member state. There must be thousands of Danes and Dutch quakeing in front of their TVs as we speek. The people I feel very sorry for are the residents of Luxembourg  as they hide like residents of war time Britain  and watch German, Dutch French and Swiss TV. Their only relief is watching RTL where the American interview is slowly dubbed into German and subtitled in French 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mpprh]

[quote user="Quillan"]There is also EU law which I believe says that you can't receive transmissions or rebroadcast programs from a fellow member state unless they give you permission to do so. As BBC programs are intended only for the UK you would, without express permission, be breaking EU law.[/quote]

I'm not sure this is correct.

The Belgian cable service relays BBC1 & 2 throughout Belgium, and has done for around 20 years.

It is apparently with consent of the BBC. They have televised Antiques Roadshows, etc from Brussels, and there is a local Open University group.

Curious ?

Peter

[Quillan]

'Grabbing' a satellite signal is one thing but sending it down a cable for mass distribution seems to suggest that the BBC and the cable company have an arrangement in that particular case. It was probably my wording in as much as yes it's OK but only if the original broadcaster, lets say in this case the BBC, gives their permission. I rather suspect that money also pass's hands somewhere along the line as well.

[Bones]

I know there's certain BBC serices (radio) that you can't get overseas, and I'm pretty sure that it isn't done out of spite...

(I think I meant to type 'services' there, although serices is a nice enough word).