FTA FREE To Air ABA Dss Blog

>евтини мебелиumer Warning Network received two inquires concerning “pay for view” fees showing up on DirectTV statements for movies that were not ordered. We looked into it and learned what the problem was.

Warning, apparently there is a glitch in DirectTV’s system that downloaded the movie “Angel and Demons” to receivers automatically whether you ordered the movie or not. Here is the catch; if you watch the movie you will be charged for it. Delete it and you will be o.k. There is no warning that you are about to be charged. You look at your play list and, lo and behold, there is the movie “Angels and Demons”. Hey, it’s on my play list so it must be ok to watch. NO! You will be charged.

DirectTV is working on this problem, but until it is fixed – Beware.

The NFL Network and Dish Network announced a settlement Friday that ends a lawsuit over how the satellite provider broadcasts the channel.

The agreement includes a multiyear deal for Dish to continue carrying NFL Network. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

“We are very pleased that our NFL Network will continue to be distributed in millions of homes on Dish Network,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a release.

In January 2008, Dish moved the channel from its most widely distributed, 100-channel package to the second-most widely distributed 200-channel tier. The company claimed the NFL violated their contract the previous month when it simulcast the historic Patriots-Giants game on CBS and NBC.

The two sides had amended their original deal in 2006 when the network began airing live regular-season games. That agreement moved NFL Network from the 200-channel to the 100-channel package and resulted in Dish paying higher licensing fees.

Dish claimed the contract reverted to the original deal when the NFL simulcast the game in which the Patriots became the first team to go 16-0 in the regular season, because that violated an exclusivity clause.

The league disagreed and filed suit a month later, asking the New York Supreme Court to compel Dish to honor the amended contract.

NFL Network will remain in the 200-channel package under Friday’s settlement.

“The NFL Network is a great complement to our programming lineup and we are pleased to offer the channel to our subscribers,” Dish CEO Charlie Ergen said in the release.

By Thomas J. Prohaska
NEWS NIAGARA REPORTER

LOCKPORT — A Williamsville man who for 17 months was creating bogus satellite TV accounts, and collecting money for purportedly installing d*shes that actually never left his basement, will have to repay $16,000 under terms of a plea agreement announced Thursday.

Michael J. Manhart, 37, of North Ellicott Street, pleaded guilty in Niagara County Court to first-degree scheming to defraud, a felony that could place him in prison for as long as four years.

Judge Sara Sheldon Sperrazza will decide that June 23, but she did order Manhart to make the restitution payment.

Assistant District Attorney Heather A. Sloma-DeCastro said the $16,000 will be divided between DirecTV and its local installer, K&R Communications.

State Police Investigator Christopher Puckett said Manhart, a subcontractor for K&R, created the phony DirecTV accounts by using the names and Social Security numbers of former customers he dealt with when he owned two Verizon cell phone stores in Erie County.

He had sold those stores, one at Sheridan Drive and Millersport Highway in Amherst, the other on McKinley Parkway in Hamburg, but took the personal information with him, Puckett said.

“He’d use the correct name and Social [Security number] and make up an address or get one from a business so they’d pass the credit check,” Puckett said. “In some cases, [the bills] would go to a Wegmans or a pizzeria.”

The investigator said Manhart sometimes stumbled on someone who already had DirecTV service. “They’d ask why they were getting bills for different addresses. It took a while to figure it out,” Puckett said.

But Manhart would inform the company of the new account and installation and collect payment from the company, Sloma-DeCastro said.

She said 10 phony accounts were created in Niagara County, 15 in Erie County and 11 more in other counties, including one as far east as Oneida County. The scam lasted from October 2006 to March 2008.

Defense attorney Adam B. Conners said the cost of restitution was higher than he thought it would be, but Sloma- DeCastro said this was because it included the Erie County cases.

Puckett said the customers whose names were used didn’t lose any money. Sloma-DeCastro said Manhart was compelled to surrender the papers with the Social Security numbers he was using.

RaySat Broadcasting Corporation (RBC) and NDS today announced that RBC has chosen NDS, the leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV, to enable the secure delivery of the AT&T CruiseCastSM mobile TV service, an exciting new source of entertainment for people on the road. The AT&T CruiseCast service will provide 42 channels of satellite TV and radio to the rear seat entertainment system.

The complete NDS solution for RBC includes VideoGuard® conditional access technology, MediaHighway® middleware as well as its Electronic Program Guide (EPG). These market-leading solutions ensure that AT&T CruiseCast services are securely delivered to subscribers and enable RBC to expand services for its subscribers in the future. NDS will additionally provide end-to-end system integration services to RBC, and its EPG will be implemented in the in-car receiver.

AT&T CruiseCast mobile TV service will offer a robust line-up of 42 entertainment channels, 22 satellite TV and 20 radio channels, that will include a variety of kids and family, documentary, music, comedy, news and sports programming at launch. The AT&T CruiseCast service will enable families, commuters and mobile professionals to watch the same type of television in the rear seat entertainment systems of their vehicles that they now have in their homes.

The AT&T CruiseCast service utilizes breakthrough technology that overcomes line-of-sight obstacles such as overpasses, buildings, trees or tunnels to deliver television programming to cars, non-commercial trucks and SUVs. The groundbreaking AT&T CruiseCast service was created through the collaboration of RBC and AT&T*, the world’s premier telecommunications company. RBC, a privately held US company is working with the business development group at AT&T to introduce the new product to the marketplace. The service will be available this Spring.

“NDS provides content security and advanced applications for our customers around the world, and this collaboration means that we are able to extend that delivery from the living room to family vehicles,” said Jesper Knutsson, NDS Americas Vice President and General Manager of Sales. “Working with a leading in-vehicle entertainment company like RBC has been a great experience and we’re very pleased to be one of the first companies to bring live satellite TV to vehicles.”

“RBC selected NDS as our content security, middleware and user interface provider because of its position as an industry leader and a true technology innovator,” said Michael Grannan, Chief Operating Officer of RaySat Broadcasting Corporation. “NDS has demonstrated its clear expertise in the global digital TV solutions market, so selecting them as our partner was a natural choice. With the combination of RBC, NDS and AT&T, consumers will be able to enjoy a remarkable in-car live TV experience.”

The AT&T CruiseCast service is made consumer-friendly thanks to the unique scaling down of satellite technology into the small pod-like antenna that affixes to the roof of vehicles. The antenna is paired with a receiver that is mounted in the vehicle and provides all video and audio connections to the appropriate vehicle systems, such as rear seat entertainment, vehicle audio system, etc.

VideoGuard, NDS’ market-leading conditional access and digital rights management technology, is the most widely deployed solution for digital TV in the world. It currently protects more than $40 billion worldwide for over 70 pay-TV operators of all sizes.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. as well as third party licensees under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.