A blow against dodgy boxes
By Keith Lynch
On Thursday night dozens - maybe hundreds - of people in Galway city tried to turn on their TV to find their channels scrambled.
But these people couldn’t contact NTL for help. The TV provider had intentionally shut the signal down, landing another blow in its fight against the so-called ‘dodgy boxes’.
A spokesperson for NTL Chorus told Galway First that the company was constantly deploying anti-piracy measures across its network to fight the illegal decoders and added that Thursday night’s result in Galway was what “we wanted and expected.”
However one user of the decoding system told Galway First last night that he had already managed to update his box and was receiving the channels again.
The dodgy boxes proved a very popular seller in Galway over the past year but UPC’s recent crackdown is sure to impact upon local sellers, as well as sales across the internet.
Earlier this month buyers of the dodgy boxes, which allow free access to subscription and pay-per-view channels, were warned they could face court proceedings following the UPC Ireland and Nagravision S settlement with Thomas Roddy.
Roddy, who was living in Salthill, agreed to hand over details of where he sold the illegal devices in Ireland and how he brought them into the country.
At the time, a spokeswoman for UPC said it has already been given a list of more than 100 people who installed or received illegal digital boxes from Mr Roddy.
The settlement follows a two-year investigation, Operation Gaelic.
People who believe they may be using an illegal service can contact UPC to be told how to correct the error to avoid legal consequences at 1800-941999 or fraudteam@ upc.ie