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THE DEVICES, which look like small coaxial cable couplers,
actually do work — but only for a short while. In a twist, would-be
pirates end up feeling cheated when they are stuck with big cable
bills.
“Plug into your cable box and receive PPV movies,” shouts one of
the hundreds of ads now on eBay. “WWE wrestling events! Boxing &
sporting events. Adult / Playboy / Spice channels. If you can order PPV
through your remote, then this filter will work for you!”
Prices for the devices, which are also available at local
electronics stores, have plummeted since they first appeared some two
months ago for around $200. Now, they are selling for around $10.
HOW THEY WORK
The
filters temporarily delay billing of pay-per-view selections because
they block two-way communication with the cable company. When a movie
or sporting event is ordered, a signal is sent from the customer’s
set-top box to the cable firm’s billing computers. The filter allows
the unscrambled signals to stream to the TV set, but prevents that
transmission back to the cable company, said Nilda Cid, assistant
director of the Office of Cable Signal Theft at the National Cable
& Telecommunications Association.
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But only for a few days. Every two or three weeks, cable firms
“poll” the boxes, and if they don’t reply, they are shut off.
“And (cable firms) know where the box is,” she said.
Making matters worse, the box also stores all pay-per-view orders
that haven’t been transmitted. So some customers end up with very large
cable bills, she said.
Word is slowly getting out.
“A lot of people are being victimized through this type of scam,” said Matt Race, a buyer who contacted MSNBC.com.
Race even posted a fake ad on eBay to warn other would-be pirates.
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