Newbee Question....

[kwboom]

Hi there.... Nice to meet all of ya......

I am a Newbee to all this FTA stuff and I was wondering 1 thing.....


What is the difference between "Legal" and "Illegal" FTA satillite T.V watching.....


I really have no clue what is concidered free and illegal.......

Could someone explain more for me like what sat's I can watch and what not to........

 

[voomvoom]

Legal FTA = programming (non scrambled) in the clear and is therefore "Free To Air".
Illegal = programming (scrambled) that's encrypted and is not free without a subscription. FTA does not mean "Free To Steal".

Al

 

[Anole]

Everything VoomVoom said.

And to give some examples, here is just one list of many, showing a LOT of FTA stuff on Ku band.
Here are several lists on Global-CM site with C and Ku FTA listings.
The Lyngsat site is the more comprehensive, but it's also harder to read, and sometimes out of date.

Dish Network is all scrambled -except- for a few worthwhile channels such as NASA, Angel, GOL TV, and some music.
The other pay TV satellite services have little or nothing you can receive in the clear, often for technical reasons.

There might be some minor exceptions, but that's the quick overview.

 

[Remington]

Simply buy a brand new FTA receiver from a well known company and don't try to mess with it. You can just aim at any satellite and you won't steal anything. What you can see is free and legal and there's a lot !

 

[Tron]

Here's another way to tell: As long as your receiver is running FACTORY firmware (not 3rd party), it should be legal.

Generally speaking, if you start receiving channels like HBO, Cinemax, Starz, Discovery, etc., you are probably running a box with illegal software and you should reflash to the factory firmware.