Cardsharing: Transmission of DW codes over the network

Hello colleagues! Like any normal person, I occasionally take a break from work. And besides autosports, I sometimes watch TV. Since the television provided by the conventional antenna does not suit me and I want HD , I chose satellite TV for myself. Having bought myself an inexpensive HD receiver, I lived with it for about a year without any problems. But at one point, the number of televisions in the house was incremented and it was necessary to “repeat”. I found out that there are several ways: or to install a satellite converter with two outputs, buy a second receiver and pay for the second contract. Or use technology cardsharing . Out of habit, I went to Habr to find out more about it, and did not find anything on this subject. Well, I will try to correct the situation and describe this technology.


As you know, in order to gain access to satellite television, there is a need for not so much: a satellite dish , a converter and a receiver . With this kit you can already catch a signal from satellites and watch TV. But, traditionally for any commercial system, the most interesting will be hidden. All channels of value are transmitted coded . The most popular methods in Russia are Viaccess (NTV +) and DRE-Crypt (Tricolor TV).

The main principle of these systems is the scrambling of the flow at the stage of formation with the subsequent decoding on the client equipment. The keeper of the keys is the operator’s smart card . The most important element is the “Descrambling Words” (abbr. - “DW”) supplied by the card, which are used to decrypt the audio / video signal. Most systems transmit DW from a smart card in the clear, so there is a possibility of their interception and transfer to another device.
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Cardsharing is a technology that allows you to intercept DW codes and use them on other devices. Simply put, you can use the same smart card on multiple devices. The channel for transmission is usually a local network or the Internet.

Of course, not every receiver is capable of becoming a cardsharing server. To do this, use specific receivers on the Linux operating system. The most popular of them are dreambox . In the same way, clients can be “simpler” devices of the Golden Interstar class and the like. I will not go into the details of the equipment settings, since this topic is quite close to the “forbidden line”, but I would still like to share with you a link that describes everything available from the server and from the client’s point of view. Do not forget only the main thing: change the default password to root .

In general, the issue of the legality of the use of this technology is relevant. Using it at home for broadcasting to several TVs within the local network you break the rules of use, but do not break the law: one card is used only by this user in one house. Unfortunately, I did not find any specifics in the legal aspect of cardsharing at home.

But alas, consciousness is not present among all users of this equipment, and many are eager to share key information for money. What is successful and our compatriots are doing in large numbers. Of course, this is already a full-fledged piracy and is prosecuted.

Thank you for your time. I hope I told you something new.