Countywide : Comcast Looking for Cable Pirates

Searching for pirates who are stealing service, Comcast Cablevision of Orange County is randomly auditing cable hookups in six cities.

“We’re determined,” said Comcast spokesman Steve Rosenthal. “We find that people don’t realize that pirating cable is a crime. It’s very chic to boast at a party that you’re beating the cable business. But it is a crime.”

Unauthorized users identified over the next four months will be given amnesty, Rosenthal said. But anyone found with illegal service after that will be prosecuted “to the fullest extent of the law,” he said.

Rosenthal said that theft of cable TV service is punishable by a $10,000 fine or a jail sentence.

Comcast provides service to 90,000 subscribers in Buena Park, Fullerton, Newport Beach, Placentia, Santa Ana and Seal Beach.

Rosenthal estimated that the company loses about $3 million a year in service to non-paying viewers.

The cities served by Comcast are also losing money, because the company pays them fees totaling 5% of its earnings. The $3 million in lost revenue means $150,000 lost to city treasuries.

About 10,000 people in Comcast’s service area are believed to be pirating cable programming by tapping into neighbors’ lines or by installing illegal decoder boxes, Rosenthal said.

Unauthorized viewers can become legitimate customers or have illegal hookups disconnected, with no questions asked, by calling (800) 700-6222, Rosenthal said.