Pirate satellite TV cards have a huge negative impact on the television industry worldwide. They are depriving the television industry of millions of dollars every year. While they are sometimes very appealing for consumers, they turn ultimately turn into a hassle that will give you lots of headaches and will cost you more than if you paid for a legal subscription.
The Myth of Free Television
“Free television” is a concept used by television network in their marketing campaign. They actually refer to the fact that you get a free setup and equipment, but you will still have to pay a monthly fee for any programming package. The television networks currently offer free setup for 3 to 5 rooms and free equipment.
The same expression is used by those who sell pirate satellite TV cards as well. What they actually do is program satellite TV cards to enable consumers to get all the channels without having to pay for them. However, they re-charge you to re-program your card and this will actually happen very often.
How Do Pirates Get Their Money?
If you stop and think for a minute, you will realize that pirates could not be offering satellite TV for free, as they claim to be. They are investing good money in this business. They have to buy the dish, the receiver, the LNB, the satellite TV card and stuff like that. In addition, they also have to find a “satellite TV guy” to program the satellite TV card and reprogram it every time the signal is hashed. This means they have to be getting their money from somewhere. What most of them do is they make you pay a certain fee if you want them to reprogram your card. And as you will read later in this article, they know you will need that a lot.
Why Not Get Satellite TV From Pirates?
Television networks use various ways to fight piracy. What they often do is “hash” pirate satellite TV cards with their signal from time to time. Usually they hit these cards once every Friday night. Then you have to go to the “free satellite TV guy” and pay him a fee to have your card reprogrammed. This will eventually add up to $25 - $50 a month.
Now add on the money that you have to spend on gas to go have your satellite TV card reprogrammed once a week. Moreover, the television network can sometimes hit pirate cards 3-4 times a week and you will end up driving to the satellite TV guy almost daily.
In addition, the free satellite TV guy may go out of business when you're least expecting it. This means you will no longer be able to have your card reprogrammed when the satellite signal is hashed. The television network might also change its data stream and your pirate satellite TV card will be useless. Now all you can do is make a deal with the free satellite guy to get you a new card for whatever price he decides on.
Although you might get lucky enough to enjoy free satellite TV for about two weeks, overall pirate satellite TV cards bring along more trouble than benefits. You will be having annoying interruptions all the time and have to run to the free TV guy once a week. Eventually, it can even cost you more than a legal subscription.
