How Can I Get Free DISH Network Programming?
Everyone loves that word “free.” Put it up beside any old widget, even by accident, and you’re bound to find both your widget and the fancy pedestal you’ve set it on gone before you can say split. And so it is with subscription TV as well; wouldn’t you, after all jump on a deal to get free DISH Network® service nearly the moment after you’d seen it? Of course you would.
The problem is, though, that there’s no free lunch (and no free DISH Network) in this life. And so if hearing promises of “free DISH Network service,” “free HD programming” or “free satellite HDTV”, you’ve got to wonder if there’s a catch—and believe us, there’s always a catch. The question is: What’s it going to cost you, a few extra bucks or thousands in fines and possible jail time? Here at InternetLion.com we advise against the latter, but then again, maybe you like dropping the proverbial soap.
And yet it is hard to tell which class of “catch” your chosen “free DISH Network” system falls under. And that’s why the InternetLion.com crew has put together the following article. In it you’ll find information on all the ways people currently get free HD programming, as well as explanations about their legality and, in the case of legal means, how you can catch a sweet deal or two on free satellite HDTV if you know where to look.
Option No. 1: Free HD Programming from DISH Network
Probably the best way to get free satellite HDTV is by ordering one of the DISH Network deals listed on InternetLion.com. Each of these packages comes with tons of extra savings, including free standard installation, up to three free HD DVR/receivers and packages of free HD programming for life, with 24 month Agreement and AutoPay with Paperless Billing.
The catch is, of course, that DISH Network requires you sign a two-year contract with them. Plus, well, each of these packages cost money—not much money, but money all the same.
In terms of the classic meaning of “free lunch,” DISH Network’s free satellite HDTV program is about as close to the phrase’s original usage as possible. You see, “free lunch” was originally a practice in California pubs and entailed patrons receiving free food after they’d paid for a drink; Usually the drinks in these pubs cost a bit more than the liquor and beer served at establishments that didn’t offer free lunch. And the costs for providing patrons a bite to eat were defrayed by the jacked-up drink prices.
It was actually a rather magnanimous marketing ploy. After all, a free-lunch pub gave its poor and industrious patrons more than their money’s worth from the rich and dissipated clientele doing what they would have anyhow: drink. Likewise, DISH Network pools the money it receives from all subscribers and uses part of it to pay its licensing costs.
Because a portion of every subscriber’s monthly payment goes toward paying these licensing fees, the lunch in this case isn’t actually free. It just seems that way because subscribers pay a lot less for their “free satellite HDTV” than they would if DISH Network were collecting a profit from its HD package sales.
And so, you see, while the lunch isn’t exactly free it is cheap. And cheap is definitely useful. Besides that, too, it’s the legal method of getting “free DISH Network programming”—a benefit your second option, as we’ll see, doesn’t offer.
Option No. 2: Pirating DISH Network Signals
The second-most prolific use of “Free DISH Network” online can be found on sites offering satellite tuning equipment. Essentially, these sites sell dish antennae and tuners intended for free-to-air satellite reception, a means of receiving TV that satellite TV regulation makes legal. But the shadow entities that run these sites manipulate the equipment they sell so that it can pick up pay-service signals as well. This is 100 percent illegal under current satellite TV regulation, not only in the U.S., but in Canada.
Of course, the problem is these shadow entities tell uninformed customers that using their equipment to receive DISH Network signals is legal and free when, in fact, neither is true. Not only do their customers risk jail time and fines for breaking several laws under the Federal Communication Commission’s satellite TV regulation, but they also usually have to pay a $20-per-month subscription to the shadow entity.
And what, pray tell, is this subscription for? Well, you see, one anti-piracy tactic DISH Network and other satellite companies use is encrypt their signals using the International Data Encryption Algorithm. This encryption method requires that any receiver attempting to access the signals “know” the algorithm’s key in order to decrypt the signals and make sense of them.
Legal DISH Network and EchoStar receiver devices receive can decrypt the company’s programming signals because they have the company’s smart cards installed in them. These smart cards communicate with the company’s main computers and receive information about what the current decryption keys are, and so a majority of customers never even suspect that the company is sending codes and keys back and forth in an ongoing war to stop piracy.
But, in the case of illegal equipment, there are what are called DISH Network autoroll programs. These are usually installed on “hacked” DISH Network smart cards and they essentially try all possible keys when DISH Network changes its IDEA encryption until they find the correct codes to “unlock” the programming transmissions.
Naturally, though, DISH Network is well aware that pirates are using DISH Network autoroll programs. So the company is constantly changing its IDEA encryption structure and sending out fake key updates that will cause current DISH Network autoroll programs to go on the fritz. As a result, pirates must update their autorolls on a weekly or semi-weekly basis to make sure they have the correct decryption methods to continue stealing DISH Network’s programming.
Of course, computer coding doesn’t come cheap; the shadow entities selling pirating equipment normally offer subscription services that will keep the equipment they sell updated with the latest DISH Network autoroll programs. Lo and behold, these subscription services cost about $20 per month (only $4.99 less than it would cost to simply order DISH Network service legally). And without these updates their super-expensive equipment is worthless.
The end result, then, is that the savings of risking it all just to receive DISH Network for “free” is actually only about $60 per year—hardly worth the thousands in fines and the jail time you could serve if caught stealing satellite service. And don’t listen to these entities sales reps if they try to convince you that DISH Network can’t find and file charges against you. According to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, subscription TV providers can seize the customer records of companies providing theft equipment and software.
Because the TV providers then know who you are and where you live they can pursue legal action against you, or at the very least, require you pay them as much as $5,000 as a settlement. If you are stealing their programming this will eventually happen to you, and considering the amount you save is a mere pittance compared to the amount you will have to pay once caught, satellite piracy has little if any value whatsoever.
More Free DISH Network Options
Plus, when it comes down to it, the value that a DISH Network subscriber can receive from all of the Free DISH Network extras that are on offer far exceeds the basic subscription fee, making DISH Network service and value simply unbeatable.
Some examples of the many Free DISH Network extras currently available are: Free connection in up to 3 HD TVs, Free service on your second TV, Free professional installation in up to 6 rooms, Free service activation (with 24-Mo. Agreement), Free DVR or HD DVR upgrade (a $6.00/mo. DVR service fee does apply), Free protection plan for 4 months (with 24-Mo. Agreement), 4 premium channels free for three months - HBO®, Cinemax®, Showtime® AND Starz® (offer subject to change based on premium movie channel availability) and Free HD for Life (with 24-Mo. Agreement and AutoPay with Paperless Billing). DISH Network is also offering BLOCKBUSTER @Home Free for 3 months.
Yes, that’s a lot of Free DISH Network options – which you can ONLY receive from DISH Network directlyc. Click here to learn more about these great offers and other benefits of switching to DISH Network today or call the number that you see on your screen to speak to a representative.
Disclaimer: Please note that this article was written when the satellite TV provider DISH was branded as DISH Network. As of 2/1/2012 DISH Network has changed their branding name to DISH. Article post date: 11/11/2010.
