Can cable operators detect cable theft?
Yes. Many cable operators have equipment that can detect signal theft from outside your home. In many instances, a technical problem, such as a neighbor’s poor reception, may point to an illegal hookup. In this case, the illegal hook-up can generate a service call from a neighboring subscriber. A cable technician can then determine whether the cause of the poor reception is due to signal theft in the area. Additionally, federal investigations uncover distributors of illegal descramblers and in the process obtain sales lists from those distributors that identify all of the people who have bought these illegal descramblers. Once it obtains this information, the cable operator is free to pursue all people who have purchased this illegal equipment.
