Melita Cable introduces counter measures to clamp down on cable theft

The game is up for illegal television viewing after Melita Cable last weekend put into effect a series of electronic counter measures in an effort to blow the final whistle on one form of cable theft.

The measures were first noticed at the weekend at the start of the English Premier league season, most notably before the crunch match between Chelsea and Manchester Utd, it was learnt yesterday.

Melita's chief executive, Joseph R. Aquilina, told The Times he believed the measure had shut down "a good majority" of tampered converters.

It was the first in a series of anti-piracy measures Melita intends to take over the next two or three months.

Melita has admitted that cable theft in Malta was rife and costing the company tens of thousands of liri in the process.

One of the most sophisticated forms of cable theft is when people tamper with converters, giving viewers the chance to enjoy exclusive premium channels without having to pay extra. Access to the popular Sports Channel normally costs an additional Lm5 a month.

This has spawned a new kind of underground industry, with technicians in garages selling converters ranging from Lm75 to Lm150.

Melita Cable surprised many last weekend when it introduced new software designed to find a way of programming its transmitter to switch off the tampered channels.

It is impossible to know how many households were affected by the measure but Mr Aquilina believes the move was a resounding success. As it transpired, some of those who had tampered with their decoder naïvely gave themselves away. A number actually called Melita Cable to complain that they had no access to the Sports Channel, only to be informed by the customer service official that they were not listed as subscribers to the channel.

Mr Aquilina said he had been informed that the counter measure upset several patrons in one St Julians' bar after they realised that the matches would not, after all, be screened.

"We are hitting the tampered decoders by class or type so the move will be gradual. The dosage will be increased in the coming days," Mr Aquilina said.

Asked why these measures were not brought into effect earlier, Mr Aquilina admitted that the industry worldwide had been slow to react to such piracy and fraud.

"Yes, there may always be new forms of piracy to get around the system, but we're confident that this form of theft has been eliminated, because the industry will in the future be reacting very quickly."

However, there are two other forms of cable theft that Melita is determined to clamp down on. One is when people cut into overhead wires or force open the company's cable boxes, taking leads into their households. Another more common practice takes place within households, when additional outlets are routed to other rooms with the help of cables.

Mr Aquilina said that several subscribers called Melita's customer service department following the publication of an article in The Times last week, claiming that they were not aware they were doing something irregular. Since then, many have been serviced with a legal outlet.

Melita is allowing such persons to regularise their position with the company. The company also intends to write individually to each of its subscribers informing them that a self-made outlet in their household is illegal and could disrupt the service in the neighbourhood.

"While wanting to clamp down on all forms of abuse Melita has no intention of involving the police to hound down misguided subscribers who may have been conned by these fraudsters who have extended or in any way tampered with their cable service - but the company is determined to clamp down on those making a business out of it.

"And the police are working very hard at it too in order to swoop in on those dabbling in this business," Mr Aquilina said.

"What is left to be seen is if the courts will now mete out some well deserved exemplary sentencing."