CW 800 how-to

How to Update BIN’S by PC

1) Connect your PC and receiver with the Cable (Serial Null Modem) that came with your Receiver.

2) Plug the Receiver into a power outlet.

3) Turn the receiver ON from the switch on the back of the receiver and you will see 00:00 and then press the “POWER OFF” key on front of the receiver panel to make it standby, the LED dot – – : – – will blink.

Note: Loader will not work until you see – – : – – on the LED panel

4) Run the “CW800SUpgradeV1.02.exe” (or current loader) on your PC.

4a- Select the right COM port where you connected your NULL modem cable usually COM1.

4b- Then select Download S/W

4c- Press Open (the Yellow file icon) and select the bin file, EX: “CW800SV1.xx_yyyy_mm_dd.bin” .

4d- Then click Start, and the upgrade will begin.

5) After finishing, the LED will display “-End”

6) To update the channel list it’s the same step except select Download Data

7) Press Open (the Yellow file icon) and select the .SDX file, EX: “CaptiveWorks_CXDatabaseV1.00_1.sdx” .

8) Then click Start, and the upgrade will begin.

9) After finishing, the LED will display “-End”

******************************************

Document 2: CW-800S Instructions and Features

Instruction for the CW800s

Select Captive Works then CW800 then File only latest update should be the first line of the Sticky section click on this line and it will open another page were the update will be in blue like ex: CW800SV1.xx_yyyy_mm_dd.bin download the new update then open the zip file copy the file inside like ex: CW800SV1.26_2007_10_26.bin and paste to your USB key to update the receiver go to How to use feature: 7.) below.

Extra items over the cw600s premium:
1.USB loading capabilities.
2.USB menu and Functions.
3.Increased the size of the display when inputting channel numbers.
4.Recording features.
5.Timeshifting
6.USB menu can do (Stream, Movies, Music, Pictures, Software and others)
7.mepg2 and mpeg1
8.jpg
9.softcam.key download via USB
10.mp3

How to Timeshift with CaptiveWorks CW-800S – Instructions and Features

How to use feature:
1.) TO Time shift press PAUSE button and give it a few seconds to get ahead of real time then press PLAY when you want to watch. Press INFO button to remove the info bar at bottom. You can also FF and RW in time shift mode. Both RW and FF have a delay to start working about 2 seconds. To return to PLAY from FF or RW press PLAY again. To End Time shifting press STOP then it will return you to live play.

2.) To Record Press RECORD button and you will see a popup window that will ask do you want to RECORD CURRENT CHANNEL? If you answer YES then it will start record with a 2 second delay or if you answer NO it will give you a choice to record another channel on same TP, very nice feature, you can record another channel on same TP and watch the one you are on. All this with one tuner, impressive. When Recording starts you will see info bar at bottom giving name of show and time of recording and size of file as well as playtime. You will notice playtime is about 4 seconds behind. If you only want to record for a certain amount of time OTR press RECORD again on the remote it will say OTR 30min press again and will say OTR 60min then OTR 90min then OTR 120min and again OTR OFF When you want to end recording press STOP.

3.) To Playback press USB button and it will take you to the USB menus were you could find your recording. Scroll down to recording and press OK. If you press INFO button you can see progress bar. Now you have choices on playback. You can FF different speeds 2x, 4x or 8x, RW you also have the same. To stop FF or RW you need to press PLAY if you press FF or RW button again it advances to the next speed.

4.) Sizes of files save on recording is much better than CW100-R. It will record a file as large as 4g and the will start another file. 4g is plenty to record a show or movie or football game

5.) To delete recordings of any file on USB drive enter the USB menu and Highlight the file you want to delete and press SAT button and it will confirm you really want to delete it. Say YES and it is gone.

6.) Setting timer for recording from EPG is done the same way as in the CW600sp. Find the show you want to record then press the GREEN button you can change the setting RECORD to either ON or OFF and a timer will be setup for you. That is all you need to do. This will also start the recording even after a show as started but will only record till the end of that show.

7.) New update and channel list loading with USB Key Press USB key on remote select the .bin or .sdx file to download in receiver it will ask if you want to update software/database change to yes and press OK on the remote let it finish it will ask if you want to reboot change to yes and press OK on the remote, if you have updated the database it will say END on the receiver turn power OFF in the back of the receiver and back ON again this will reboot the receiver after updating the database check your settings after you download SDX file to your receiver .

8.) To adjust the sat signal press >>l press EXIT to get off the screen.

9.) To bring the key to the screen press page down on the remote. Remove from screen press EXIT

10.) To upload channel list to the USB key press USB on the remote then press FAV it will ask Do you want to upload database change to YES press OK on the remote it will make a file called Captive Works_CXDatabaseV1.00.SDX

11.) To populate the guide for B*V 91W put receiver on one of the channels of TP 12311 :
Channel 59,68,162,167,218,240,280,296,352,357,410,428,437, 510,Radio 965
Charlie:To get EPG to populate, leave your receiver on one of the following channels for at least 10 minutes: 146, 239, 418, 424, 427, 436, 572, 5814
==>
Q. How do I find the channels that populate the 7-day EPG?
A. Go to DISH Network on Anik F3 & EchoStar 7 at 119.0°W – LyngSat and search for “EEPG”. The channels are grouped by transponder. Tune into any channel on the transponder that the EEPG channel is on, and you will receive 7-day EPG.

Q. How come the guide isn’t populating fully? Or how come it’s only populating channels on 110W but not 119W?
A. Check your time settings and make sure they are set.
==>

12.) Use SAT button in USB menu: USB TOOL
a. Delete File
b. Rename File
c. Disk Information
d. Format Disk

13.) When watching a recorded file you can skip 30 seconds FF and RW by pressing page UP or DOWN

I am sure I am missing a lot of things this box can do but more features will be coming out.

Remember the better the Hard Drive you use the better results for recording.

according to ftabins.net site–cs 4-5-6 down on DN (but up on b3v)

I no longer have a cs6k so i don’t have personal experience anymore, but according to ftabins.net dn is down.

I don’t know why cs would go down when apparently no one else went down.

I recommend you take advantage of the cs exchange offer or sell your cs or give it away, and buy a new receiver–you can decide for yourself if you want to trust coolsat again.  I didn’t want to go back to them.

The writing is on the wall for early cs models.  Time to get rid of yours or turn it to pure fta use.  Don’t beat a dead horse.  Support will likely be spotty at best for the early cs models going forward.

review of coolsat 6000

I sold my coolsat this last week–got paid last night.  I am now boxing it up and getting ready to ship it.

I wanted to write a review of it, so here goes.

I love my Coolsat 6000.  The box has more than paid for itself.  It has been the seed in my home of a new and rewarding satellite hobby, the source of countless hours of both frustration and enjoyment, the center around which I have built all my knowledge of satellite reception.  I feel affection for my machine, and will miss it after I sell it–in fact, I honestly feel conflicted emotion just unplugging the box and packing it in styrofoam peanuts for shipment.

But on an unemotional note, the Coolsat 6000 is a good starter box, with mediocre support and an uncertain future.

It can receive MPEG 2, it has a nice user interface with picture-in-graphic.  It works very seamlessly and produces a nice quality picture.  Being from a number of years ago, it does not have some of the features of the modern boxes–namely MPEG 4, PVR, HD, or USB support (much less IKS, although a dongle might be forthcoming).

One weird glitch I noticed is that if you select display output of 16X9, the display will not come as 16X9–I don’t understand why this would happen.  You have to use the TV to stretch or expand the image.  I don’t know why this would be.  Not really a big deal.

There is a bigger glitch–the cs6000, if you use the parental settings to put a lock on rated R movies, still fails to put a lock on rated X movies.  Not a good situation if you have children in the house.

Satellite–Real Free to Air (FTA)

For FTA, the box is perfect–it is able to control USALS motors; I cannot comment on its scanning speed because I have not used other boxes, but it takes a few minutes to autoscan a satellite.  I tried to blindscan a bunch of satellites and this was a disaster–after 12 hours it still wasn’t finished.  For specific satellites that you have pointed at, CS 6000 is good.  Scanning 5 satellites and getting them ready for use takes about 25 minutes.

If you want English-language FTA broadcasts, I recommend Galaxy 10R–ABC, Fox, and lots of old TV shows that I still love–Get Smart, Hogan’s Heroes, more.  Some Indian channels also, and one other religious channel that I like.   I ask that the people controlling 10R put more programming information on their bird–since it is really hard to know what is coming on TV since there is no program guide–it is even hard to tell which station you are looking at until you watch that station for about 20 minutes (is this ABC Arkansas or Texas or what?).  Occasional movies at night.  Everything clean, no porn. Telsat 5 is supposed to be good, but I found it really disappointing, with a few Chinese channels and otherwise very touchy and difficult reception.

Generally, on file support:

I am sorry to say despite my affection for the CS 6000 that CS 6000 (with its older siblings, the 4K and 5K) is until now notorious as perhaps the worst-supported FTA box by one of the major manufacturers.  Files for other boxes (including even the other coolsat boxes) come out days or even weeks before the CS 4k, 5k, and 6k boxes.  This is apparently due to a difference or controversy between Coolsat and (I believe) techsat–which manufactured these early boxes before coolsat went to a different manufacturer.

The coolsats have many clones, at least that is the reputation–therefore this is possibly the reason for the reluctant file support for the machines.

The 4k-5k-6k boxes’ controversy, weak communication, and spotty support, have earned Coolsat a shoddy reputation and have angered their fans despite the box’s reputation for excellent picture quality and ease-of-use. The spotty support has led to much speculation that coolsat will cut off support altogether for the machines.  This rumor was supported by the coolsat buyback program, announced last week, that proposes to exchange old generation coolsat boxes for new generation boxes, provided the owner of the box send a $79 fee for the upgrade.  Only the bottom-of-the-line 6100 is available under this upgrade program however (which is nevertheless a real upgrade since the 6100 has better file support, and also has a USB update feature).

The Coolsat just-announced buy-back program is disappointing ($79 plus your old coolsat machine will buy you the bottom-of-the-line (from the new generation coolsats) Coolsat 6100).  Analysis by me has shown that even if you want to upgrade to that cs 6100, you are better off using ebay to sell your old machine and then buy a new one.

Coolsat later modified their buyback program to sell the cs 7100 as well as the cs 6100.  To buy the 7100 you must send $119 with your old receiver.  Another development since the announcement of the buyback program is that it is actually possible to use a 6100 as a PVR.  This is an important development that changes the game and makes it possibly worthwhile to take coolsat up on its offer.

Loading new files

Some people recommend that you do a database reset every time you add a new file.  I did this for a while, but I find it is usually unnecessary and time-consuming–for me the reset was a last resort. By the way, I would ask the satellite manufacturers to put a feature to always exclude certain channels–it would be nice not to have to scan through and remove the porn channels every time I do a database reset.

Updating files, once you get them, on the CS 6000 is difficult because you have to use an RS-232 cable. Some people use a laptop for this.

With the online support communities that exist, you will be able to keep your box functioning.  Coolsat is a Korean company whose American outlet is in northern California.  They have limited abilities to communicate with their customer-base in English.  Therefore read the manual and then go online for support.

The people now selling the CS 6000 from online stores, if they promise any file support at all, are in fact being dishonest because there is a limited number of coders making CS 4k-5k-6k files, and nobody else really has any way of obtaining a file other than through CS coders.

Over-the-air TV (OTA)

CS 6000 is extremely disappointing on OTA TV.  There is a Coax input for an ordinary antenna, but there is apparently no way to receive channels (analog or digital) directly through the box–which is pretty sad, considering that the crappiest $20 Walmart VCR, even if it wasn’t capable of playing video tapes, could at least receive television signals and display them on a TV.  Apparently there is just a pass-through feature for TV signals.  But for me that’s really not very exciting.  I would like to be able to set the TV to look only at the satellite box and then not change it anymore–just controlling OTA and FTA directly from the satellite box.

Conclusion:  If you want to watch real FTA, without recording, this is a good box.  Or if you want a cheap way to access the world of satellite television, with an iffy prospect for future support, the coolsat is a good way to go.  I love my coolsat, will miss it, and I pray to get a new (and even better) box soon.

Two Weeks Later

I moved to a CW 800.  Now I have some perspective on the cs6000 (a couple of weeks after selling the 6000).  The picture on the cs 6000 is really great, and easy to customize.  The EPG is really good, there are two easy ways to see what is on and when it will end.  This feature is better–no offense–but this is better than the captiveworks EPG (although the captiveworks is better IMO on balance than the coolsat).

Another strength of the coolsat is that you can use multiswitches with it.  i had mine running with one 8-port multiswitch and i was able to connect to more than four satellites.  on more modern machines attaching to multiple dishes in this way is harder or impossible–i wasn’t able to figure out how to use that multiswitch on a cs 7000 or on a cw 800 (granted i spent less time on those machines than on the cs6000).  Of course these other machines have other ways of connecting to multiple LNBs.  According to the setup screen it is possible to set up a cs 6000 with a diseqc and a multiswitch stacked — therefore you would be able to connect to about 8 or 9 satellite LNBs without any headache (some of the switches on the 8 port multiswitch were designed to attach to other stacked switches therefore you couldn’t just use them to attach to a dish).

new coolsatusa announcement… ** upgrades available immediately **

Coolsatusa updated their website announcement about upgrades to read as follows:

[Notice] Repair Exchange Program for Coolsat 4000,5000,6000 begin 1st of June.

We are proud to introduce an exchange program for the CoolSat 4000/5000/6000 STB’s. Some parts are not avaliable for the STB to repair.

Effective immediately you can trade your STB in for an exchange to a CoolSat 6100 by sending in your old box and $79.00 U.S Dollars. (Shipping & Handling Fee). The repaired STB may need for the 2 years will only cost $10.00 U.S Dollars for shipping back to customer.

This warranty is only good for boxes with the original factory software on it as we do not support any 3rd party software and not for clones of our equipment.

We are still hoping coolsat will allow upgrades to other boxes as well. We were hoping they would lower the price for the upgrade but they did not and now that they have begun the program they really cannot back down on the price.

Please ask them politely to make other boxes available at 650-376-8000 or info@coolsatusa.com or sales@coolsatusa.com.

B3v’s Nimiq 4, Nimiq 5 and the Captain 8000

Nimiq 4 is supposed to hold many HD channels–BEV is apparently either rolling out or has rolled out MPEG 4 receivers to its customers and some analysts have speculated that Nimiq 4 will be all MPEG4, although pajamasfta has been unable to confirm this.

Possibly the reason that (MPEG-2 only) Captain 8000’s are so cheap right now is that the sellers are expecting MPEG2 to be canceled when Nimiq 4 is online and B3V can be like D15H which we understand is exclusively Mpeg4.

MSNBC report:

Satellite Services

Telesat’s performance in the first quarter continued on target with
expectations. Revenues were $167 million and Adjusted EBITDA was $99
million. Telesat ended the first quarter with backlog of $5.1 billion,
$41 million total cash and $2.8 of billion debt. The company has three
new satellites scheduled for launch in 2008 and 2009: Nimiq 4 is fully leased, completed and waiting for launch vehicle readiness; Nimiq 5 is fully leased and under construction; and Telstar 11N is fully constructed and undergoing testing.

Nimiq 4 Information from Bell Canada

Celebrating 10 years of Digital TV leadership, Bell offers subscribers a chance to witness the launch of the Nimiq 4 television satellite

TORONTO, Ontario, Sept. 17 2007 –

This month, Bell Canadacelebrates 10 years of delivering Canada’s leading digital television services. The company is marking the milestone by offering Bell Digital TV subscribers a chance to witness the launch of its newest digital TV satellite,Nimiq 4, in the spring of 2008. “The Nimiq 4 satellite will further enhance our Digital TV services by offering even more High Definition and interactive channels,” said Kevin Crull, President, Bell Residential Services. “With the launch of the new satellite next spring, Bell TV subscribers will continue to see the great service and innovation they’ve come to expect from us.” The new TV satellite is being built and launched by leading satellite developer and operator Telesat of Ottawa, and will be launched next spring from the from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, one of the the world’s longest-serving and largest operational space facilities.
  

Launch schedule (from http://satelliteonthenet.co.uk/launch.html):

May: Nimiq 4
launcher: Proton K / Briz M
launch site: Baikonur Cosmodrome,
Kazakhstan
mission: commercial communications satellite

Nimiq 5 Progress

Telesat again chooses ILS to launch its newest digital TV satellite

Nimiq 5 will deliver advanced television services across Canada

OTTAWA, April 26 2007 — Telesat, one of the world’s leading satelliteoperators, announced today that it has selected International Launch Services (ILS) for the launch of the Nimiq 5 satellite in 2009. Financial details were not released. Nimiq 5, the latest in the Ottawa-based company’s line of satellites carrying digital television services, underscores Telesat’s ongoing commitment to make substantial investments in its state-of-the-art satellite fleet for the benefit of Canadians. Bell ExpressVu has contracted for the use of the satellite to provide a wide range of high-definition and pecialty television services to its subscribers. This will be the sixth Telesat satellite launched by ILS on a Proton rocket. The Proton vehicle, built by ILS partner Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center of Russia, has carried out more than 325 missions for the Russian government and commercial customers over more than 40 years. The Proton launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. “We are extremely pleased to be working with ILS again,” said Dan Goldberg, Telesat’s president and CEO. “We have a long and successful history with ILS who launched our Anik F1R satellite, our Nimiq 1 and Nimiq 2 Direct Broadcast satellites and, just two weeks ago, our Anik F3 satellite. ILS offered Telesat the right combination of quality, reliability, experience and value, and we look forward to working with their team on the important Nimiq 5 launch campaign.” Telesat’s 19th satellite, being manufactured by Space Systems/Loral with participation by the Canadian satellite industry, will be equipped with 32 Ku-band transponders. It will occupy Telesat’s orbital position at 72.7 degrees West Longitude and have an anticipated lifespan of more than 15 years.

About Telesat ————- Headquartered in Ottawa, Telesat Canada http://www.telesat.com) is one of the world’s pioneers in satellite communications and systems management. Created in 1969, the company made history three years later with the launch of Anik A1, the world’s first domestic communications satellite in geostationary orbit operated by a commercial company. Telesat operates a fleet of satellites that provide broadcast distribution and telecommunications services, and is a highly respected consultant and partner in satellite ventures around the world. Telesat has offices throughout Canada, in the United States and in Brazil. On December 18,2006, Telesat’s parent company, BCE Inc., announced the sale of the satellite operator for $3.25 billion, net of debt, to a new acquisition company formed by Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) and LoralSpace & Communications Inc. (Loral). As part of the agreement between PSP and Loral, Loral will contribute its fixed satellite services and network services assets to the new acquisition company. Applications for the change in ownership of Telesat have been filed with the appropriate regulatory authorities.About ILS

——— ILS is a joint venture of Space Transport Inc., Khrunichev and RSC Energia. ILS is incorporated in Delaware in the United States, and is headquartered in McLean, Va., a suburb of Washington, D.C. For more information, visit http://www.ilslaunch.com.

OFFICIAL Coolsat annoucement — upgrade program

The following is an official announcement from the Coolsatusa website (http://coolsatusa.com/) “[Notice] Repair Exchange Program for Coolsat 4000,5000,6000 begin 1st of June.

We are proud to introduce an exchange program for the CoolSat 4000/5000/6000 STB’s. Some parts are not avaliable for the STB to repair.

Effective immediately you can trade your STB in for an exchange to a CoolSat 6100 by sending in your old box and $79.00 U.S Dollars. (USD 29.00 : Shipping & Handling Fee, USD 50.00 : Upgrade Fee). The repaired STB may need for the 2 years will only cost $10.00 U.S Dollars for shipping back to stb may need for the 2 years will only cost $10.00 U.S Dollars for shipping back to customer.

This warranty is only good for boxes with the original factory software on it as we do not support any 3rd party software and not for clones of our equipment.”

If you do the math I guess it might be worth it. This is what we were hoping for but they should have made other boxes available under the program (like the coolsat 8100 or 7100)–who wants the bottom-of-the-line receiver??

Please contact coolsat and ask them to include other receivers in the exchange program!!! It benefits them also–I already wanted a nice coolsat receiver–not the bottom-of-the-line receiver. I am sure most of you are with me on that.

coolsatusa: 650-376-8000 / fax: 650-589-3084.
sales@coolsatusa.com
info@coolsatusa.com.

Rumors swirl about adaptations to make pansat 2500-2700 bins available for cs 4k 5k 6k

“By the end on this month or the beginning
of next month”

Apparently the underlying hardware is almost the same.

A commenter on one of the fta sites says, “So dont worry coolsat owners, please be patient and sit tight!”

The commenter is apparently a coder and claims to have helped make files before.

what’s going on with coolsat

The rumor cloud is roughly this:

Coolsat had a manufacturer that it used to make the 4k, 5k, and 6k machines.  coolsat’s management and the manufacturer’s management had differences of opinion, and coolsat went somewhere else to produce later models.  6100 7000 8000 and 8100 and so on were manufactured by someone else.

Apparently there was a small rebellion of coders after the switch to the new machines.  the coders went to work on other fta manufacturers’ machines, including one or two of the very best norw coders.  Of course, the receivers are sufficiently different that the same files will not work on both sets of machines (coolsat new and coolsat old).  This argument says that a part of the reason for slow support is coolsat’s business divorce from its manufacturer, and the rebellion of its staff.

possibly also, coolsat is very concerned about clones of their early machines, and is deliberately holding back its new files in order to spite the clones (and the old non-clones); trying to force customers to upgrade.

it is possible that the iks revolution will still benefit the early coolsat owners–so keep your eyes peeled for a dongle that will work with them.  really, even a third-party could produce such a dongle (without knowledge of the internal workings and bios of the early cs machines) if he had some electrical engineering, website, and coding knowledge.  iks dongles already exist for the more recent cs machines.

new iks machines (like industry leader nfusion nova) are in the works from cw and viewsat for very near future release (hopefully).  watch for more HD receivers and more IKS receivers, hopefully they’ll come down in price and hopefully the companies will really fill out the capabilities of these FTA machines!

d!rct tv rumor (corporate espionage)

hxxp://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2008/04/murdoch

c/p

Did a Rupert Murdoch company go too far and hire hackers to sabotage rivals and gain the top spot in the global pay-TV war?

This is the question a jury will be facing in a spectacular five-year-old civil lawsuit that is finally being tried this month in California but which has, oddly, received little notice from U.S. media.

The case involves a colorful cast of characters that includes former intelligence agents, Canadian TV pirates, Bulgarian and German hackers, stolen e-mails and the mysterious suicide of a Berlin hacker who had been courted by the Murdoch company not long before his death.

On the hot spot is NDS Group, a UK-Israeli firm that makes smartcards for pay-TV systems like DirecTV. The company is a majority-owned subsidiary of Murdoch’s News Corporation. The charges stem from 1997 when NDS is accused of cracking the encryption of rival NagraStar, which makes access cards and systems for EchoStar’s Dish Network and other pay-TV services. Further, it’s alleged NDS then hired hackers to manufacture and distribute counterfeit NagraStar cards to pirates to steal Dish Network’s programming for free.

NagraStar and one of its parent companies, EchoStar, are seeking about $101 million for damages for piracy, copyright infringement, misconduct and unfair competition. The list of witnesses in the case includes EchoStar’s founder and CEO Charlie Ergen; several hackers and pirates; and Reuven Hazak, an Israeli who heads security for NDS and is a former deputy head of Shabak, or Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic security agency (the equivalent of Britain’s MI5).

The case, which began April 9 in the U.S. District Court’s Central Division in Santa Ana, California, could conceivably result in an award of hundreds of millions of dollars, although neither side is expected to emerge unscathed from testimony that threatens to expose the messy underbelly of the high-stakes pay-TV industry.

As if to emphasize this point, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter said after the proceedings began that he was concerned that the case would hinge on testimony from known lawbreakers like hackers and pirates, who have been employed by the companies on both sides of the lawsuit. The judge urged the plaintiffs and defendant to settle rather than face potentially devastating harm to their reputations.

EchoStar wouldn’t comment on the case while it’s ongoing, but Jim Davis, a senior analyst with the 451 Group, a market research firm, said the company isn’t likely to settle.

“It gets taken very personal when your security product has been hacked,” he said. “And to have a competitor do that through, allegedly, the services of a known hacker, has got to be particularly galling to NagraStar.”

As for NDS, which currently has more than 75 million access cards on the market, Davis says the company probably sees the trial as an opportunity to defend against the image that it is “simultaneously promoting a product that secures networks while working with folks that work outside the law [to break networks].”

The company said in a statement to Wired.com: “We are confident our position will be upheld at a trial.”

According to court documents, the scheme began to unravel in 2000 when law-enforcement agents in Texas seized suspicious packages containing CD and DVD players stuffed with more than $40,000 in cash. Parcels similar to this were being sent almost daily from Canada, via Texas, to a hacker in California named Christopher Tarnovsky, who was working for NDS as an engineer. The money was allegedly part of the conspiracy between Tarnovsky and NDS Group to sabotage NagraStar’s cards.

As laid out in the allegations, NDS’ hacking is said to have begun in 1997 after its own access cards were cracked and it was at risk of losing clients like DirecTV, which was being hit hard from pirates who were selling unfettered access to its system.

But rather than deal with its security breach, NDS hired Tarnovsky and other pirates who had compromised its system to help the company hack and pirate its competitors’ cards and even out the playing field, it is alleged.

In addition to Tarnovsky, the company also hired Oliver Kommerling, a hacker known for writing the primer on cracking smartcards. Kommerling has acknowledged in an affidavit that he helped NDS set up a research lab in Haifa, Israel, where NagraStar’s smartcard was allegedly cracked by NDS engineers.

NDS didn’t hire only hackers, however. According to EchoStar/NagraStar, it also hired a handful of other people with colorful pasts who they say had a role in hacking and pirating EchoStar/NagraStar. There was Reuven Hazak, who had been deputy head of Israel’s Shin Bet during the notorious Bus 300 incident (when two Palestinian terrorists who hijacked an Israeli bus were killed in custody by a Shin Bet agent. Hazak eventually blew the whistle on the subsequent cover-up).

NDS also hired a former U.S. Navy intelligence officer named John Norris and a former Scotland Yard commander named Ray Adams. Finally, it hired a former would-be terrorist, Yossi Tsuria, who became chief technical officer of its lab in Israel. Tsuria was part of a radical group of Jewish Israelis in the 1980s that plotted to bomb the Dome of the Rock — a shrine that sits on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, a holy site for both Jews and Muslims.

NDS has maintained in public statements that Hazak, Norris and its other security officers were hired to help it track down hackers and pirates and get them arrested. But EchoStar and NagraStar allege that Hazak and Norris played central roles in committing hacking and piracy as well.

In late 1997, NDS researchers in Israel reportedly cracked the NagraStar card after about six months of effort, using an electron microscope.

NagraStar became aware its card was hacked in late 1998 when meeting with DirecTV to discuss the pay-TV company’s desire to switch from the hacked NDS cards to NagraStar’s cards. But DirecTV employees surprised NagraStar at the meeting when they informed NagraStar that its cards had also been hacked.

EchoStar/NagraStar claim that NDS, aware that DirecTV was about to abandon its cards in favor of NagraStar cards, cracked NagraStar’s card to discourage DirecTV from making the switch.

After NDS cracked its rival’s card, Tarnovsky and his associates allegedly created and sold counterfeit NagraStar cards through a piracy site based in Canada, among others, that allowed pirates to access Dish Network programs for free. Tarnovsky is also accused of later posting on the Canadian site the code, secret keys and instructions for hacking the microprocessor on EchoStar’s access cards, allowing pirates to flood the market with even more cards. He has denied the allegations. Hazak and Norris are accused of providing Tarnovsky with the code so he could post it online, but NDS maintains this didn’t happen.

According to court documents, the sabotage scheme worked remarkably well throughout 1998 and 1999 as counterfeit NagraStar cards flooded the market.

It was around this time, however, that a German hacker in Berlin known as Boris Floricic, aka Tron, disappeared while walking home from his parents’ home one day. He was found several days later hanging from a belt in a park.

Among his possessions, authorities found correspondence from NDS. NDS later said it had offered Boris a job, which he had rejected. Prior to his death, Boris had obtained source code and information about hacking access cards that were being used in a German satellite TV system. His friends in the German hacker group, Chaos Computer Club, were convinced that he’d met with foul play.

Although his death was officially ruled a suicide, there were enough details around it to create suspicion. Floricic’s feet were on the ground when he was found hanging, for example, and other evidence suggested that his body might have been placed in the park after he died.

During this time, NagraStar wasn’t the only alleged victim of NDS hacking and piracy. In 2002, the French pay-TV service Canal Plus filed a damages suit against NDS, from which the EchoStar/NagraStar case emerged. In an affidavit from that case, Kommerling disclosed that NDS had cracked the Canal Plus cards using a method he had taught its engineers in Israel. Then, he revealed, the company instructed Tarnovsky to post the Canal Plus code on the internet.

The Canal Plus suit fizzled after its parent company, Vivendi Universal, struck a business deal with News Corporation that included a condition that Canal Plus would drop its suit against NDS. This is when EchoStar joined the litigation.

Before Canal Plus’s case against NDS died, Tarnovsky indicated to the company that Reuven Hazak had given him the Canal Plus code to post it on the internet. He reportedly told the French firm he would testify in the case, but later backed out, citing fear for his life and his family.

In May 2002, two months after Canal Plus filed its suit, someone broke into the car of one of NDS’ British employees and stole the hard drive from his laptop, making off with thousands of NDS documents and e-mails. EchoStar/NagraStar say the e-mails provide proof of NDS’ hacking and piracy activities. NDS has suggested that the e-mails might be fabricated and has battled to keep them out of the court proceedings.

NDS has denied the lawsuit allegations. The company maintains that it was simply engaging in reverse-engineering, as any company would do to understand rivals and compete in the marketplace, but that it did not distribute cards or information about hacking NagraStar’s encryption to pirates.

In an e-mail statement to Wired.com, the company took a dig at its competitor’s competence and touted its superior skills.

“The hacking of EchoStar was the result of inferior technology arising from inadequate investment in research and development by [NagraStar],” said the statement. “NDS, on the other hand, invests heavily in research and development … we reinvested over 30 percent of our revenues into R&D — and the result is that we have zero piracy and the platforms of our customers are completely secure.”

The trial is expected to last at least two more weeks.

David Cassidy/Flickr.

coolsat rumor from an fta site…

…

unsubstantiated rumor but interesting…

Coolsat owner Eric is in a tug-war with the coders (specially the older model 4000, 5000 and 6000 receivers), this is all about the new dongle they are trying to introduce so the receivers can be turned into IKS (Internet Key Sharing).
It looks like the coders have upper hand at this point, they are delaying / holding off the bin releases and have Eric as a hostage at this point, it looks like if Eric does not listen to them on the release of the dongle they will release the bins under different group and have most of the old receiver customers relying on them, once that is accomplished they will introduce the dongle and have all the sales in their pocket.
Let us see how this power struggle plays out.