Thread: AZBox grabs top honors from the Federal Justice Ministry of Brazil

The Sigma chipset is not expensive, but it isn't well supported for DVBS applications. The cost of incorporating the Sigma chipset is in the development and limited production.

I would not expect AZBox to invest additional resources into further development of the STBs for North America as their markets in primary distribution regions becomes limited. I believe that AZbox will concentrate on lowering the product and development cost and focus on their core European market.

Originally Posted by Scott Greczkowski

I havent seen any indication of piracy on the AZbox for North America, however I have signs of it for other countries.

Just to clarify things a bit... for some time now, there has been some importers of satellite piracy devices who attempt to trick the authorities by using another established brand instead of coming out with one of their own. Out of the top of my head, the two examples I can think of are Dreambox and AzBox. Unlike the authentic AzBox models listed on azbox.com (i.e. Elite, Ultra, Premium, Premium Plus, ME and MiniME) which are made in Korea, the AzBox counterfeit models (i.e. Bravoo, Bravissimo, Smart, etc...) are all cheaply made in China in order to profit as much as possible from the South American satellite piracy market. Sadly, this has hurt the authentic AzBox brand in that market but the pirates don't care as they will most likely use a different brand and start all over again!

Same thing with Dreambox in regards to satellite piracy in North America where an importer resurrected the discontinued DM-100 and DM-500 models by making cheap clones of them in China. This is why you will see most North American satellite piracy dealers only carry the DM-100 and DM-500 counterfeit models and not any authentic Dreambox models. Similar to AzBox, the authentic Dreambox reputation is getting tarnished because of these sneaky importers who don't have the balls to come up with their own brand!



Regards,


PwrSurge
AzBox Canada

Originally Posted by RT-Cat

Gee, does that mean I can get an AZbox for $20.00?

Just a quick note that the only thing these counterfeit AzBox models have in common with the authentic units is the AzBox logo on the box and the remote control. These models don't support 4.2.2 or even have an integrated media center and the operating system is totally different! The hardware quality is a lot lower as well as they are all made in China.


Regards,


PwrSurge
AzBox Canada

Pwrsurge,

This thread isn't about counterfeit AZBoxes or how a cheap STB has tarnished the AZBox name.

AZBox was specifically banned due to the prominent role the company plays in developing firmware to circumvent legal subscription requirements and in supporting methods of key sharing and distribution to enable signal theft.

The bottom feeding, cheap namesake STBs came along after AZBox established the theft of service market in South America. Don't think the Brazilian market cares about the country of origin or if they support 4:2:2.

Originally Posted by SatelliteAV

Pwrsurge,

This thread isn't about counterfeit AZBoxes or how a cheap STB has tarnished the AZBox name.

AZBox was specifically banned due to the prominent role the company plays in developing firmware to circumvent legal subscription requirements and in supporting methods of key sharing and distribution to enable signal theft.

The bottom feeding, cheap namesake STBs came along after AZBox established the theft of service market in South America. Don't think the Brazilian market cares about the country of origin or if they support 4:2:2.

What I wanted to clarify is that when the Brazilian government is talking about AzBox, they are referring to the counterfeit AzBoxes used for theft of services and NOT the authentic models from Opensat. I personally confirmed this directly with Opensat management. There is no association between the counterfeit models used for satellite piracy and Opensat which was confirmed a while back on their website at
Set Top Boxes, Media Center: High Definition | AZBOX

Opensat has nothing to do with the satellite piracy issues facing the South American market and you will not see any distributor listed on azbox.com selling counterfeit AzBox devices.


Regards,


PwrSurge
AzBox Canada

I am sorry, but based on the facts I will respectfully disagree. Yes, I concur with you that the AZBox has clones and counterfeits, but that is not what this thread or the ban is about. AZBox has not been mistakenly grouped with counterfeits and clones. I am sure that there is no connection between AZBox and the clones being used for piracy. Why would they support clones that are stealing their market?

I get it that you are a AZBox reseller, but please.... don't play everyone as fools as to the reality of the market and what sells satellite boxes. The AZBox is a great STB and let it play on its own merits in the North American market. You don't need to defend the actions of the distributor outside of your market, especially when they obviously are not being above board with you.

As always, follow the money trail...... There was a reason that the real and genuine Openbox AZBoxes became popular in South America. Hint: It wasn't because the true FTA market suddenly exploded or that the STB had outstanding blind scanning or supported 4:2:2. LOL!!!

Ya az Florida distributesr use to bring them in for South America for piracy, and I mean come on the name of the main importer tells you right there what they are up to "Opensat" haha.

Originally Posted by SatelliteAV

I am sorry, but based on the facts I will respectfully disagree. Yes, I concur with you that the AZBox has clones and counterfeits, but that is not what this thread or the ban is about. AZBox has not been mistakenly grouped with counterfeits and clones. I am sure that there is no connection between AZBox and the clones being used for piracy. Why would they support clones that are stealing their market?

I get it that you are a AZBox reseller, but please.... don't play everyone as fools as to the reality of the market and what sells satellite boxes. The AZBox is a great STB and let it play on its own merits in the North American market. You don't need to defend the actions of the distributor outside of your market, especially when they obviously are not being above board with you.

As always, follow the money trail...... There was a reason that the real and genuine Openbox AZBoxes became popular in South America. Hint: It wasn't because the true FTA market suddenly exploded or that the STB had outstanding blind scanning or supported 4:2:2. LOL!!!

What are these so called *facts* that you are referring to?

Let me be perfectly clear, I have absolutely no axe to grind with AZbox and have had many communications in the past few years with Opensat regarding distribution in North America. The product line has evolved into a good STB that fills a niche market in North America and time will tell if their products continue to be available and to meet the needs of the North American niche market.

Outside of the legitimate FTA market lies the money that funds development of these products. You do not need to defend the distribution and support provided by a manufacturer into an international market outside of your own.