Sky finally closing in on Cam Sharing on Satellite (or so it appears)

irishfeen · 12-05-2017 05:46PM #1

Firstly this is not meant as discussion on ways around the blackout, so no illegal talk on purchasing these cam-sharing services!

Sky seem to have finally cracked the encryption system with software to prevent the cam sharing of channels on Astra 28.2. They have started systematically shutting down some sky channels and it seems like they are testing the waters before a complete blackout...

The reported list of channels encrypted with the new software include -

Sky Living
Sky 2
Lifetime
Sky Atlantic
Sky Sports 2
Sky Sports 4 (All Versions)
Sky Sports 5 (All Versions)
Sky Sports News HQ (All Versions)
Chelsea TV
Sky Sports 3 RoI
Disney XD
Disney XD+1
Disney Channel
Disney Channel +1
Disney Junior
Disney Junior +1

I would imagine sky are waiting until the end of the Premier League season to roll this out to all channels on the platform (just in case legal subs are someway affected - this is what happened when the CCCam HD encryption was ended)

It is reported online that this new encryption has yet to be broken since the HD blackout and somehow they have managed to roll it out to SD channel while keeping SD set top boxes.

Interesting times!!

Irreverent · 12-05-2017 06:29PM

Interesting times alright. A lot of my colleagues have been giving out about it in recent weeks. I suppose it was always going to happen once a critical mass of cardsharers was reached. Now if only Sky would launch some reasonably priced sports packages....

irishfeen · 12-05-2017 06:35PM

Irreverent wrote: »

Interesting times alright. A lot of my colleagues have been giving out about it in recent weeks. I suppose it was always going to happen once a critical mass of cardsharers was reached. Now if only Sky would launch some reasonably priced sports packages....

In all likelihood it is probably coming to an end within a few weeks, they are obviously testing the waters with variations of channels and keeping away from the movie channels and Sky Sports 1&2.

Encryption will be staggered to protect the paying subs on the platform.

macnug · 12-05-2017 06:50PM

Anybody know why IPTV not affected? Or is it only a matter of time?

irishfeen · 12-05-2017 06:53PM

macnug wrote: »

Anybody know why IPTV not affected? Or is it only a matter of time?

AFAIK an awful lot of IPTV streams are taken directly from satellite feeds, if this is the case they will be gone too...

At this stage it's too early to know but you can be sure sky is working on it.

Copper_pipe · 12-05-2017 07:10PM

Some IPTV streams may be using Virgin media ?

ongarite · 12-05-2017 07:33PM

sugarman wrote: »

Will give it a month before it's broken, if even.

Doubt it.
No-one has broken the encryption since Sky Italia rolled it out last year & the cam sharing update first happened a month ago with no progress so far.

irishfeen · 12-05-2017 08:01PM

Copper_pipe wrote: »

Some IPTV streams may be using Virgin media ?

There appears to be a scramble from IPTV cccam providers to move exclusively to cable feeds - I have no idea how that might end up but you would think if the crack satellite encryption then they will move to that straight after.

irishfeen · 12-05-2017 08:04PM

sugarman wrote: »

Will give it a month before it's broken, if even.

As said the HD encryption has yet to be broken (12 months on AFAIK) and if reports are to believed Sky Italia has not been broken either.

The apparent scrambling for cable feeds by IPTV cccam providers is a sure sign people don't expect it to be broken (at least not in the near future)

wil · 12-05-2017 08:08PM

Will they eventually have to upgrade all boxes to introduce new security or is it really possible to keep existing boxes.

irishfeen · 12-05-2017 08:12PM

wil wrote: »

Will they eventually have to upgrade all boxes to introduce new security or is it really possible to keep existing boxes.

The big news from this current encryption is they seem to have devised a way to keep the old SD boxes going perfectly - this is exactly why the HD channels went about 12 months ago but the SD channels remained.

Seemingly they have achieved a way to stop cam sharing no matter what boxes are in circulation - it's a game changer.

jimmycrackcorm · 12-05-2017 08:13PM

wil wrote:

Will they eventually have to upgrade all boxes to introduce new security or is it really possible to keep existing boxes.

For the money they charge it will be cheaper and effective to upgrade boxes. But at the end of the day they can't beat IPtv.

I'm surprised they don't put something like a QR code on the screen to identify the source, similar to the pint glass you see on pub screens. But then again I'd guess that would be easily defeated.

mikeybrennan · 12-05-2017 08:19PM

Will this affect illegal services like mobdro?

irishfeen · 12-05-2017 08:23PM

mikeybrennan wrote: »

Will this affect illegal services like mobdro?

Could very well, depends where the feeds are being sourced from... cccam satellite was among the most stable way to achieve cam sharing.

... basically nobody knows fully yet.

wil · 12-05-2017 08:31PM

Presume this is proprietary Sky technology but is it something that is likely to be licensed or rolled out to other providers who might similarly want to target sharing?

PAKNET · 12-05-2017 08:43PM

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

For the money they charge it will be cheaper and effective to upgrade boxes. But at the end of the day they can't beat IPtv.

I'm surprised they don't put something like a QR code on the screen to identify the source, similar to the pint glass you see on pub screens. But then again I'd guess that would be easily defeated.

It is possible to transparently watermark video that is immune to re-encoding, compression or post-processing that doesn't make the image practically useless anyway.

Digital cinema uses this, it can identify the time, date and individual screen in the cinema site that the digital file was decrypted in.

No reason the same couldn't be adapted to identify the decrypting source card.

Johnboy1951 · 12-05-2017 09:09PM

Report I got today is that a provider of such service is offering a change (what I don't know) that provides a slightly different range of channels ...... HBO was mentioned.

So SD channels seem to be disappearing generally.

jca · 12-05-2017 09:19PM

Will this affect torrents of TV series etc?

hytrogen · 12-05-2017 09:23PM

irishfeen wrote:

I would imagine sky are waiting until the end of the Premier League season to roll this out to all channels on the platform (just in case legal subs are someway affected - this is what happened when the CCCam HD encryption was ended)

Wouldn't it be absolutely hilarious to find out that all these "pirate streaming sites" were somehow owned and run by the major satellite TV corporates? Same as how tor network has been controlled by the CIA the whole time... *Looks at wikileaks direction for latest scandal

Cantona's Collars · 12-05-2017 09:26PM

jca wrote: »

Will this affect torrents of TV series etc?

Won't affect them.

Sky are throwing a huge amount of money at this and are even monitoring social media to catch people selling 'dreamboxes' etc.
I read on another site that somebody published details of hackers that decrypt the Sky encryption and since then these lads have gone to ground.

irishfeen · 12-05-2017 09:27PM

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Report I got today is that a provider of such service is offering a change (what I don't know) that provides a slightly different range of channels ...... HBO was mentioned.

So SD channels seem to be disappearing generally.

Yeah I heard bits about this too, you would wonder will that be good enough for people who wanted the all round sky package.. US/Canada is basically the only place they can go to find alternatives.

Johnboy1951 · 12-05-2017 09:30PM

irishfeen wrote: »

Yeah I heard bits about this too, you would wonder will that be good enough for people who wanted the all round sky package.. US/Canada is basically the only place they can go to find alternatives.

I expect that new 'customers' will be difficult to find, but those who have paid will demand some service even if all they get is non-Sky channels.

irishfeen · 12-05-2017 09:34PM

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I expect that new 'customers' will be difficult to find, but those who have paid will demand some service even if all they get is non-Sky channels.

If sky do finally block cam-sharing you can just imagine the amount of people who may well be returning in August before the PL kicks off again... Satellite cam-sharing was very stable and people will probably miss this greatly.

irishgeo · 12-05-2017 09:36PM

rumours are sky are relaunching the sports packages as separate channels.

Sky are revamping their service this summer with cricket, Formula One and golf getting dedicated channels. Football is still seen as the big seller and will have two channels, one for the Premier League and one for the rest.

But rugby union, despite Sky televising the Lions and England's autumn internationals, is going to be bundled with other sports in a variety package.

now that would be a step in the right direction. would tie in with locking down of channels on card shares.

irishfeen · 12-05-2017 09:49PM

irishgeo wrote: »

rumours are sky are relaunching the sports packages as separate channels.

now that would be a step in the right direction. would tie in with locking down of channels on card shares.

Its the requirement to take out at least the variety pack which is the real problem for me at least ... it makes watching Sky Sports incredibly expensive.

Johnboy1951 · 12-05-2017 09:52PM

irishfeen wrote: »

If sky do finally block cam-sharing you can just imagine the amount of people who may well be returning in August before the PL kicks off again... Satellite cam-sharing was very stable and people will probably miss this greatly.

or pubs will get a boost in numbers for game time

irishfeen · 12-05-2017 09:57PM

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

or pubs will get a boost in numbers for game time

Or that of course..

gerry sat · 12-05-2017 09:58PM

About bloody time, these card sharing systems ruining the business.
Yes I agree Sky are a rip off, but with card sharing and IPTV streaming it's causing a lot of issues for some installers, as cowboys are doing nixers for everyone and they will change there mobile numbers next week.
So delighted Sky have at last started to sort this pirate issue out.

lertsnim · 12-05-2017 10:01PM

People will flock to IPTV or use foreign providers.

gerry sat · 12-05-2017 10:04PM

lertsnim wrote: »

People will flock to IPTV or use foreign providers.

Of course they will, but IPTV will not last for long as most taken of pirate services, as with foreign providers.

irishfeen · 12-05-2017 10:06PM

lertsnim wrote: »

People will flock to IPTV or use foreign providers.

Problem is if sky crack cable cam-sharing where do the IPTV providers turn to?

Sky finally closing in on Cam Sharing on Satellite (or so it appears)

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