# Changes coming from Dishnetwork/Expressvu



## Guest (Nov 15, 2002)

Inserted letter to all Expressvu customers:

Dear valued customer, 


Bell Express Vu has had a very successful 5 years, becoming the number one satellite provider in Canada. 

However, with these great accomplishments, come obstacles which are costly to both company and customer. 

Over the last 2.5 years satellite piracy has become a multy million dollar cost to Bell Canada and is currently growing at an alarming rate. 

Our highly trained technicians have been working very hard to combat illegal programming by using electronic counter measures (ECM'S) to disable pirated programs manufactured by "hackers". 
Although ECM'S are working as an inconvenience for people pirating bell Express Vu programming, it is not effectively preventing it. 

Dish network©®, an American satellite company in the U.S. and Microsoft©® are currently working on a smartcard system which is hopefully going to be highly effective with the fight against satellite piracy. 

Once the first run of tests are completed, Dish network©® will be launching a program that consists of both software upgrades and smartcard replacement to 60% of its customer base. After all of the chosen customers follow the instructions and activate their new cards, a 2 month test will be conducted to assure Dish network©® this new move to end satellite piracy is at least 85% effective. 

If all goes according to plan, the rights of the new system will then be released to Bell Canada, and we will soon also follow the same program to swap smartcards and apply any necessary software upgrades to your set top boxes so we too can combat the theft of our satellite programming. 

The procedure is very simple and will not cause any programming interruptions to you what so ever. The new system is very much like the activation process used with Microsoft©® windows XP©®. When you receive your new smartcard, you will have a toll free number to call and a list of instructions on how to activate your system. 

We ask for you to please wait until you get your card to call us, and to use the number provided on the instruction sheet, not the common 1-888-SKYDISH number. We also ask for you to read the instructions before inserting the card. If the card is inserted incorrectly, it will not work. It has a locking mechanism that prevents it from being removed from the set top box. 
Starting in January 2003, you will frequently be asked to upgrade software for your receiver. We ask that you take all upgrades when provided, this will only be of help and speed up the activation process for you, when you receive your card later in the year. 

We hope you find this an easy and convenient procedure to assure you competitive pricing and programming for years to come. 

Sincerely 
Bell Canada 

Copyright © 2002.Bell Canada. All Rights Reserved


----------



## Scott Greczkowski (Mar 21, 2002)

> It has a locking mechanism that prevents it from being removed from the set top box.


Thats gonna be a pain in the butt to reset most of my recievers. That is how I reset my units most of the time.

Hmm Dish in bed with Microsoft?

If they keys are anything like Microsofts Windows XP, expect the new Dish Security to be cracked quickly.


----------



## Guest (Nov 15, 2002)

No kidding, notice the Bell Canada choice of words "and Microsoft©® are currently working on a smartcard system which is hopefully going to be highly effective with the fight against satellite piracy"

hopefully - what is BCE saying???


----------



## Guest (Nov 15, 2002)

Say what you want, at least they will be made in the usa. 

I do love the " It has a locking mechanism that prevents it from being removed from the set top box." Great and what do you do come the next card swap????


----------



## Mike123abc (Jul 19, 2002)

Probably means that if you take the smartcard out of the reciever for any reason, you will have to call to reactivate it again. They probably are working on a way to eliminate the ability to use the emulators hackors use... If you cannot take out the card to put in a hacker device, might be a setback for piracy.


----------



## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

They better not be expecting your reciever to call in for authorization - I have one 4700 with a fried modem that still has PPV's from last summer on it...


----------



## Pete K. (Apr 23, 2002)

"what do you do come the next card swap???"
Take the receiver to the top of a very
tall building and........


----------



## Mike123abc (Jul 19, 2002)

> _Originally posted by scooper _
> *They better not be expecting your reciever to call in for authorization - I have one 4700 with a fried modem that still has PPV's from last summer on it... *


Dont worry scooper your new smartcard will not know about those old charges...


----------



## MarkA (Mar 23, 2002)

Assuming this isn't a joke, it sounds like a good reason to drop DISH. Haven't they learned their lesson about Microsoft from the DISHPlayer?


----------



## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

Well Zac since it is another company doing it I would say it is NOT a good reason to drop DISH.


----------



## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

What about card swaps? Me thinks that you will be able to remove the card, however, the process of removing the card will result in physical damange.,


----------



## Karl Foster (Mar 23, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Zac _
> *Assuming this isn't a joke, it sounds like a good reason to drop DISH. Haven't they learned their lesson about Microsoft from the DISHPlayer? *


Zac,

Believe it or not, Microsoft does know how to write software that works with DBS. Ask anyone with Ultimatetv. The Microsoft interface works every day, every time, without fail, which is a helluva lot more you can say about Dish Network software.

Directv is also replacing all of the smart cards in their receivers. I haven't received mine yet.


----------



## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Mike123abc _
> *
> 
> Dont worry scooper your new smartcard will not know about those old charges... *


It's not the money that concerns me - I'll pay for what I bought - but if the modem is required for authorization - I'm sunk...


----------



## raj2001 (Nov 2, 2002)

Bell's worried about signal theft? IMO, they should be more worried about people stealing DTV and DISH US satellite signals.


----------



## TopCat99 (Nov 3, 2002)

Similar to XP activation? So basically hackers just have to write a new card every 30 days? :lol:

Like Scott said, yanking the 'card is the easiest way to reset. I've even had CSRs tell me to do that. It will be a royal pain in the tush to crawl behind the table/TV stand/entertainment center to yank cords to reset a flaky guide or whatever problem. ARGH!


----------



## catman (Jun 27, 2002)

Microsoft abandon the webtvs , which it said they never would do . Now , it wants to give you smartcards ? Hey . Gates put local channels on for everyone .


----------



## Scott Greczkowski (Mar 21, 2002)

BTW This letter is a HOAX, this is confirmed by a few folks at Dish Network and also one at ExpressVu.

I have been told by contacts that there is no truth to the letter. And while they declinded to discuss security they did mention that while they are always working to improve security they would not pre announce changes and are not working with Microsoft.

So let's lay that one to rest.


----------



## TopCat99 (Nov 3, 2002)

That would explain some of the missing words and improper syntax, then 

Thanks for the heads up, Scott


----------



## Angelfish (Mar 27, 2002)

for more info on this hoax letter read here:
http://www.canadian-tv.com/forums/s...r=72990&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1


----------



## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

When did they abandon Web TV? It has a new name but it is still there.


----------



## raj2001 (Nov 2, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Geronimo _
> *When did they abandon Web TV? It has a new name but it is still there. *


He probably meant UltimateTV, in which the hardware production was discontinued.


----------



## xxxx (May 25, 2002)

It has been posted on some other forums that the source of this hoax is someone, involved at arms length, with the Echostar/NDS legal situation. Could be as it obvious,by the mistakes, that the writer is rather unfamiliar with Expressvu - didn't even get the corporate name correct.


----------



## James_F (Apr 23, 2002)

WebTV is now called MSN TV..

http://www.msntv.com/


----------



## PeterB (Jul 25, 2002)

I was going to make an oiffical claim of BullSh..... but scott beat me to it.


----------



## Randy_B (Apr 23, 2002)

"multy million" was a give away that this was bogus. Unless a multy is the Canadian version of a Zloty (pronounced ” Zwoty”) ?


----------

