DirecTV question for seasoned vets

[Red Air Force]

I can do the same thing on my cable box and I don't have to pay for the TiVo service.

Which is better, cable or satellite, depends on the individuals prefrences and what cable systems they have available.

Only someone who doesnt have DirectTV/TIVO can say this.

Sure I could rig up VCR's all over the house and try to mimic the effect. I could also go back to writing letters on a typewriter and save a ton of money off my ISP. I'ts the same, but way different.

 

[Jersey Girl]

Cutting off your nose despite your face?

Yeah I did the local tavern thing. Got Direct TV this year. Ill save hundreds of $$$

Dude, I think it's "Cutting off your nose TO SPITE your face" LOL! And I'm with you. I saved loads of cash last year. Funny how much you gotta tip the bartender in South Jersey to get the Cards game on (and on the small screen in the corner without sound, no less)!

 

[Red Air Force]

The NFL needs to stop it's exclusive contract for sunday ticket with DirecTV.

DirecTV is a company that has used it's financial muscle to attempt to extort billions of dollars out of a hundereds of thousands of people through extortion letters and by filing over 25,000 lawsuits against those who wouldn't bend over and pay them off.

Further, three of DirecTV's former investigators have made depositions to the effect that DirecTV is operating a huge extortion ring under color of law. DirecTV has attempted to extort money from the blind, the dead and for objects that could not possibly be used to to steal satellite like leather pouches, ac adapters and sega dreamcast mod chips.

I'll go watch sunday ticket on a local taverns dime cause I sure as hell am not going to give any money for DirecTV satellite television.

From the deaf and blind? C'mon now.

TV is not a god given right. It's a privliage. The fact is that Direct TV offers a service and paid like 5 billion dollars for the right to host those sunday ticket games, who in turn offers that service at a profit to willing paying customers. (i.e. not extortion)

You get what you pay for. If you don't want to pay for TV, then you better have a good set of rabbit ears.

 

[john h]

i want sunday ticket for the season and i'm a new customer. problem is, i don't want to sign up for an entire year of programming because i prefer regular digital cable after the season ends. is there anyway "around" this? a new father can't go the bar every sunday anymore...

Sunday Ticket is a stand alone one season purchase and you pay in 4 installments. It will be automatically renewed if you do not call them to cancell each year. If you like NFL footbal it is a must.

 

[Chaz]

Only someone who doesnt have DirectTV/TIVO can say this.

Sure I could rig up VCR's all over the house and try to mimic the effect. I could also go back to writing letters on a typewriter and save a ton of money off my ISP. I'ts the same, but way different.

No I have a DVR, it works just like a TiVo. It is not like rigging up VCRs.

I don't understand what you think the big difference is.

Besides Sunday Ticket, what is available on DirecTV that is not available elsewhere?

 

[Russ Smith]

From the deaf and blind? C'mon now.

TV is not a god given right. It's a privliage. The fact is that Direct TV offers a service and paid like 5 billion dollars for the right to host those sunday ticket games, who in turn offers that service at a profit to willing paying customers. (i.e. not extortion)

You get what you pay for. If you don't want to pay for TV, then you better have a good set of rabbit ears.

My objection is the exclusive rights thing. It's been posted before, in Canada they have Sunday ticket on cable too. I just don't see how the NFL can make more money this way I just can't believe they wouldn't get more if they allowed Directv, Dish Network, and Cable to all offer Sunday Ticket?

I'm stuck again I'm renting a townhouse that came with Dish Network, I'm fairly certain I don't have a clear shot to put a 2nd dish in the backyard and get Directv, so I'm SOL again. This weekend is when I break out the compass and signal meter to check, I happen to work with someone now who used to install dishes for a living and he is letting me borrow a meter but based on my description he belives I'm SOL.

 

[Red Air Force]

No I have a DVR, it works just like a TiVo. It is not like rigging up VCRs.

I don't understand what you think the big difference is.

Besides Sunday Ticket, what is available on DirecTV that is not available elsewhere?

My bad, I thought you were talking about usnig VCRs like a DVR.

Is NFL network DTV only? I dunno, I had Dcable for awhile, and couldn't stand the interface, and the channels took forever to change.

For me, DTV was a huge upgrade.

 

[Chaz]

My bad, I thought you were talking about usnig VCRs like a DVR.

Is NFL network DTV only? I dunno, I had Dcable for awhile, and couldn't stand the interface, and the channels took forever to change.

For me, DTV was a huge upgrade.

True enough, some cable systems are better than others.

My cable system does not have the NFL network but I don't believe it is exclusive to DTV.

I was hanging on to Cox cable for a long time because they had exclusive broadcasts of Suns home games. Now that they are on FSN-AZ it is one less reason to have cable. So far I just have not had a compelling reason to change and I have looked into it.

I would agree a DTV/TiVo setup is a excellent way to go and the only way to go if you want Sunday Ticket.

 

[Capital Card]

Besides Sunday Ticket, what is available on DirecTV that is not available elsewhere?

As an out of towner, do you really need another reason? For me, DirecTV was the only option.

My wife got upset that our "free" two room system cost $400.00 in upgrades, plus an additional $99.00 for Tivo a year later; but, even she loves the system and wouldn't change back

 

[Fiasco]

From the deaf and blind? C'mon now.

TV is not a god given right. It's a privliage. The fact is that Direct TV offers a service and paid like 5 billion dollars for the right to host those sunday ticket games, who in turn offers that service at a profit to willing paying customers. (i.e. not extortion)

You get what you pay for. If you don't want to pay for TV, then you better have a good set of rabbit ears.

Where did I say DirecTV sued the deaf? Yes DirecTV has tried to extort money out of blind people. Yes, DirecTV has tried to extort money from the families of dead people (Read the declaration of former DirecTV investigator Jack Fisher) DirecTV has sued people who have never owned DirecTV satellite equipment.

I never said it is a god given right, I just refuse to send money to a company who has filed tens of thousands of frivilous lawsuits against ordinary citizens with absolutely no proof of signal theft. Where did I say I was unwilling to pay for television? I have Dish Network.

What the hell does the amount of money DirecTV spent to launch satellites have to do with their hundereds of thousands of extortion letters?

It is extortion when DirecTV sues someone and tells them they will settle for $4500. Then that person contacts a lawyer and finds out that it costs $10,000 to defend the baseless lawsuit. DirecTV lacks any evidence of actual wrong doing.

The NFL should make Sunday Ticket available on Dish, Vooom, DirecTV and cable. It shouldn't be exclusive to an unscrupulous company like DirecTV.

Many judges are also unimpressed with DirecTV's wave of baseless litigation. DirecTV cases take up about 10% of the civil court docket nationwide. In a recent decision by a the honorable Inge Johnson in Alabama's Northern District, the judge threw the case out stating:

"For the plaintiff to prevail at jury trial, a jury would have to speculate as to what was shipped to the defendant, and then, based on the speculation of what the defendant received, further speculate as to what the defendant did with a device he has stated under oath he never had."

The defendant won and DirecTV's case was thrown out on it's ass. The defendant is still out the thousands of dollars he had to spend on an attorney.

Declaration of DTV investigator Jack Fisher
http://www.wumarkus.com/forums/dtv/files/fisher-declaration-investigator-renounces-dtv.pdf

 

[CaptTurbo]

Dude, I think it's "Cutting off your nose TO SPITE your face" LOL! And I'm with you. I saved loads of cash last year. Funny how much you gotta tip the bartender in South Jersey to get the Cards game on (and on the small screen in the corner without sound, no less)!

 

[Chaz]

As an out of towner, do you really need another reason?

As an out of towner? No, Sunday Ticket sounds like a compelling reason to me.

 

[Jersey Girl]

As an out of towner? No, Sunday Ticket sounds like a compelling reason to me.

Oh yeah!

 

[Fiasco]

A bit more on DirecTV's campaign of extortion:

The declaration of former DirecTV "piracy" investigator David Bautista has been leaked into the public domain.

http://www.wumarkus.com/forums/dtv/files/Declaration_of_David_Bautista.pdf

I realize many of you just can't live without Sunday Ticket, but you should read what the company your supporting is doing. Not only does Bautista corroborate the statements of another former DirecTV whistleblower (John Fisher), he states some of his own experiences as a direcTV investigator.

Some interesting quotes from the declaration;

Dale Herring, Mai Jones and Bert Eichorn settled cases with the family of deceased EU’s.They would brag to the fellow investigators including myself about doing this. Herring told me and other investigators that he would tell the family members they were legally obligated to pay the fine or they could be sued by DIRECTV. He said we should do the same thing.

There were a number of occasions when I spoke to the family of EU and learned that the EU was currently serving active duty in the military. My approach to them was to try to appeal to them as a fellow military man and to impress upon this that if the case got into litigation their superiors would look unfavorably upon them. This tactic left me with a bad taste in my mouth but I was just following the instructions of Dale Herring. I did not personally tell any military personnel or their family members that if they were unable to respond to our lawsuit we would take their default. However, I know Dale Herring has bragged during roundup sessions about settling cases with military personnel overseas and how he was able to convince the soldiers this could threaten their military career.

DIRECTV has identified some devices that it believes are not used to reprogram DIRECTV access cards but could be used to reprogram DISH Network access cards a competitor. Kent Mader told investigators, including me, how to handle such situations. He said, "If you can get a settlement, get a settlement." The tactic, according to Kent Mader was to tell the EU that if they did not settle with us, we would turn over the information to DISH. However, if they settled, we would not disclose the purchases to DISH.

This is because it made no difference to DIRECTV whether the end user was guilty or innocent of signal theft; the only factor in evaluating the investigator’s performance was the amount of money extracted and the percentage of end users who pay the money.

If what Bautista states in his declaration isn't scary enough, examine the attachments to the statement which show the amount of money we are talking about here. And, this is just for 2003. DirecTV stepped up the campaign of extortion in 2004.

Keep supporting direcTV!