Hacking into pay-television channels is a growing business and a potentially serious crime. Last July, South Korean satellite receiver manufacturer Vicxon was ordered to pay just under $28m damages to US satellite service provider Dish Network for importing devices that enabled users to avoid paying TV subscriptions.
Meanwhile, this January, a man was sentenced in Germany to 18 months in prison for illegally selling on access to Sky Deutschland, the pay-TV operator, the length of sentence suggesting the big sums of money involved.
But while the legal penalties for pay-TV hacking – more properly known as pirate decryption – can be severe, public attitudes towards the crime are often ambivalent.