They cost little more than a regular video card but offer the ability to tune in to the same VHF and UHF free-to-air (FTA) broadcasts that a regular television can receive.

Another attractive feature of these cards is that they allow you to use your camcorder (even the old analog one) as a digital camera -- you just play back the tape and capture whatever frames you want to use as a still image.

However, there are other things you can do with that clever little card -- watch Sky's UHF pay TV channels for instance -- for free.

Over the past few years I've seen various pieces of software on the web which claimed to decode the VideoCrypt system and I've always wondered whether they'd actually work on a Sky TV signal here in NZ.

Well, according to one Kiwi (who, since this column was published has pulled the relevant webpages from his site -- for obvious reasons), they do.

Yes, if you'd prefer to pay a few dollars extra for a video card with tv tuner capabilities (preferably one that also has a TV-out connector so that you can plug your large-screen TV set in rather than rely on your PC's wimpy little monitor), you can get a lifetime of access to NZ's largest pay TV service at no extra cost.

Now don't get me wrong -- I don't condone this type of theft for one minute -- I'm simply citing this as yet another example of just how difficult it has become to protect intellectual property in the 21st century.

Readers Say (updated hourly) VideoCrypt... - Ben VideoCrypt decoding... - Pete hvcplus for decoding sky... - Richard From Yesterday... The Music Industry... - Nick Kills iMacs... - Matt Norton Antivirus Upgrade... - Graham cds and viruses... - Brett Have Your Say

I believe that there has been a very small black market in special VideoCrypt decoders which don't require a smart card for some time -- but the number of people who have access to such devices is extremely small and unlikely to threaten Sky's bottom line at all.

A software-based solution that can be downloaded anonymously from the Net and installed on a regular PC is perhaps a whole different story though.

Given the choice of handing over a fist-full of $10 notes to Sky each month or downloading a piece of software -- what do you think that many students and young people will do?

Hey, now little Johnny can watch Sky sports in his bedroom on his PC while mom and dad watch the movie channel, so who (apart from Sky) is going to bitch about that?

How long, I wonder, before Sky just turns off its UHF service, relying instead on its satellite-based digital broadcast? I guess the existance of this software is extra incentive to do so.

Have you tried this software? Did it work for you? What do you think about the ethics of using this software to watch another channel in the bedroom if you've already paying for a Sky subscription?

Note -- I feel it worth reminding readers that downloading software from the Net and installing it on your PC always involves an element of risk. You don't know what "hidden features" may lurk within and there has been a growing trend for some packages to include spyware or adware products. I have no idea whether this is the case with the software referred to here.

Have Your Say
As always, your comments are welcomed. Please remember to select "For Publication" if you want them included on this site.

Have your say.

Add Aardvark To Your Own Website!
Got a moment? Want a little extra fresh content for your own website or page?

Just add a couple of lines of JavaScript to your pages and you can get a free summary of Aardvark's daily commentary -- automatically updated each and every week-day.

Aardvark also makes a summary of this daily column available via XML using the RSS format. More details can be found here.

Contact me if you decide to use either of these feeds and have any problems.

Linking Policy
Want to link to this site? Check out Aardvark's Linking Policy.

Did you tell someone else about Aardvark today? If not then do it now!