What Free Cable?

suckass writes: "Apparently if you've got a cable broadband connection from AT&T you can get free basic cable just by splitting the line that goes into your cable modem. News.com has a story about it here."

Not for long.

[TomatoMan]

One way to kill a freebie: post it on /.

video traps...

[MenTaLguY]

This is why they install video traps on cable modem-only customers' lines. Sounds like somebody got lazy.

Crappy moderation...

[NanoGator]

I thought that the parent post [slashdot.org] made an interesting point. Now that it's extremely public how to do this, the cable companies will be forced to crack down on it.

Thanks a lot to news.com for posting this story. Give AT&T more reason to tighten their grips!

Probably the reason why.

[papasui]

Basic cable is prevented from being stolen by a device called a "trap". Trapping basically blocks the RF on the line to prevent it from traveling to a house. Most cable these days are based on addressable or digital services but the FCC still requires the basic channels (NBC,CBS,FOX,etc) to be trapped and analog. In order for the modem to work in needs RF in the range of -15db to +15db on the forward signal and reverse signals of 35db to 55db with a signal to noise of 30db or more. If you trap off a house then your not going to get cable service period (unless you know how to safely remove it from the drop). Now what prevents you from just purchasing a cable modem and hooking it up and having it work is a method of authentication known as provisioning which enables the modem or cabledevice with that Mac id to work on the system in which case the modem is delivered a CM file that governs the modem to work at a specific speed. If you can fool the modem to downloading the CM file from some other source then you can change the speed it runs at. But don't be stupid and do this as bandwidth graphs are well monitored and you can bet that when someone is pulling 30mbit your cable network engineer is gonna notice the nice huge spike compared to everyone else on the node. But to make this short and sweet, its pretty hard to find out and prevent someone from stealing basic cable, which is why most cable companies charge a cable access fee around $10.00 if you don't have any cable service besides a modem.

Re:Not for long.

[wizbit]

One way to kill a freebie: post it on /.

Sorry, but slashdot is doing what it always does - playing link-zilla to the mainstream press, which is doing ITS job by reporting consumer issues like this. This was on news.com, so that means it hit the Associated Press, and other mainstream press outlets will pick it up from the wires in the same fashion.

But yeah, troll slashdot, and blame Malda and Co. for making it like 1% more widely known now.

Aww, poor AT&T. NOT.

[jkc120]

When I'm pinging 300ms to my GATEWAY on their internet service, I somehow don't feel bad for AT&T. If and when they start providing quality braodband, I'll care that people are stealing their TV service. After all, the internet people are paying them $50/mo for near-56k-like pings and constant speed problems in many areas.

Is this REALLY piracy?

[Tommy_S]

I counted that article using the word pirate or piracy 11 times. I think calling this piracy is really stretching the definition. The so called pirates aren't asking for free cable TV. Yet, the cable company insists on delivering cable televison into their homes anyway. These people are really supposed to not watch it just because the cable company is to lazy/inept to provide them with only the specifice service they are requesting? The article has the tone like a $4.95 coax splitter is some kind of illegal underground L337 H@CK0RZ technical wizardry type gadget. Come on. I'd venture to guess most anybody who orders a cable modem without cable TV would at some point plug the cable into their TV just to see what they get. And when they find they get cable TV, there's not going to be many people so as dumb as not to know/figure out that all they need is a $4.95 splitter to watch it.

This isn't news...

[peterdaly]

This has been an industry practice for quite some time. Many companies don't install a filter. And frankly, when they do, I know people that just go out to the neighborhood junction box and take them off. They are installed consistantly enough for the local cable company to ever know, if they come back to do additional work. Hell, when cable modems first came out around here, the cable company ran out of filers, so most cable-modem only users got a full cable feed, if they thought enough to try a TV on the line.

-Pete

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Why now?

[hether]

So what is the point in publishing this story now? I can't believe that the media just found out. It's something most of us have known about for years. We need to figure out what their purpose is in letting more people know about this. Is it just another attempt to point out how many people are stealing? Is it to encourage more people to do it and pull one over on At&T since they're raising prices? Was it a slow news day and they were grasping for content? There's got to be a reason this story was published now. Any ideas?

Re:What a hack!

[martyb]

I prefer to stay on the legal path though because if they catch you they're going to back charge you for all the time you were paying for one but not the other and when I can't pay it they'll cut my tv and my 2 year old daughter will kill me in my sleep for taking her Caillou away from her ;O)

The article mentions "Free Cable", but it strikes me as being Free as in Beer; not Free as in Speech.
A quotation which has deeply influenced my decision making seems apropos:

"The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out."

-Thomas B. Macaulay

This is not intended as a troll, though I have maxed out my karma, but the point is that there is a price to be paid for everything I do. In some things, the price is monetary. In other things, I pay the price out of my moral character. And, for me, character is important.

--
If I had an interesting sig I would put it here.

Monopoly

[cyberformer]

The money goes towards the cable company's profits, of course. (Or more accurately, towards mitigating the losses from the company's stupid investments during the bubble.) It's a monopoly, so they charge what they like.

And the "free cable" described here isn't really piracy, as other posters have pointed out. The broadband customers are paying a bit more than those who just want basic cable, and the "free" cable is part of the deal. In fact, this is another reason why the basic bill is so much: The company wants the incremental cost of extra services (Net access, premium channels, etc.) to be so low compared to the $40 you're already paying that you will choose to buy them.

Re:Slashdot: News for thieves. Like ethics matter.

[mobiGeek]

This is like producing one CD for all of your products, shipping it off whenever one of your customers buys an application you made

I can't completely buy this analogy. If I have cable coming into my house, I am allowed to hook up one device to it. Just because I can splice it and run cable to other sets in my house doesn't mean that I legally can.

So, you have a cable modem hooked up to your cable. This doesn't mean that you are allowed to splice that cable and run it to another device.

BS

[lucifuge31337]

"The drops are not designed to be split," she said. "The Internet product needs a dedicated feed so that it runs as efficiently as it's supposed to."
I've seen it installed by Comcast this way SEVERAL time for people with Cable Modems and analog or digital cable.

A Comcast Cable representative said Comcast also performs tap audits to identify customers using unauthorized video hookups.
Right....the tech checking if some moron terminated an extra connection with a screw-on F from RadioShack while he's setting up a neighbor's connection in the same box is not what I'd call an "audit."

The tap audit lets the operator evaluate services piped into the home to see if any are not being paid for.
I'd really like to know how many people actually believe that there is some magic box they can hook up to a cable line and know what you're stealing/what kind of box you have on youe TV/how many splitters you have/etc.

Re:Oh boy...

[unitron]

"I get "free" cable through my apartment. Every apartment in the building does..."

Well, either that or a cable subscription is built into the rent and you just don't realise it.

See Napster thread.

[Gorbie]

People don't want to hear about how they are morally or ethically wrong about something. As far as they are concerned, that's your opinion and not based on fact or reality.

I made a similar point regarding Napster yesterday. Someone went as far as comparing music theft on Napster to the life of Jesus Christ.

Knocking...my...head...into...the...wall...

Yesterday taught me one thing. If people can find a way in their brain to justify an act, they will change their perception from it being "wrong" to "well, why shouldn't I? Who am I REALLY hurting?"

Re:Slashdot: News for thieves. Like ethics matter.

[Boiled Frog]

Face facts: If you pay for cable modem service and start adding splitters and/or cables to run to your TV, you are stealing the service. You physically added something to their cable system so that you could get a service that you did not pay for.

By this logic, if I had cable and wanted to connect multiple TV's to it, I would be stealing service. Some cable companies actually believe this and charge you for every outlet. I just don't happen to buy into it.