The  DSS  is  currently transmitting from  a  pair  of  co-located satellites  at  101 Degrees West. Since the  satellites  used  are transmitting on a higher frequency with higher power, the size  of the  dish  is also smaller. It is only the size of a pizza  pan  - about  18  inches  in  diameter. Currently  there  are  about  150 channels being transmitted. More will be added. But something from the past is worrying people - piracy!

In the late 1980s and early 1990s piracy haunted the large dish C-Band satellite television. Could the same thing happen to the  DSS system?  Only time will tell. The DSS encryption is based  on  the VideoCrypt  access control system. The European analog version  of VideoCrypt  has  been repeatedly compromised by hackers  over  the last five years.

The  second principal system is EuroCrypt-M. It is used  by  Canal Plus, TV3, TV1000, FilmNet and a few others. There may be as  many as 400,000 satellite subscribers to these channels. The market for these  channels  is  mainland  Europe  and  they  have  many  more subscribers on cable. The third scrambling system is Nagra Syster, the only one that is still secure from signal hackers. It is  used by  Premiere, Canal Plus and Teleclub. While hackers are  actively working  on  a viable hack, the system has fared well  during  the past four years.

One major difference between between Europe and the United  States is  the uniformity of American laws and their enforcement.  Piracy has  thrived in Europe because each nation has its  own  copyright laws  and generally only protects its own channels. This makes  it possible,  for  example, to legally sell pirate smart  cards  that allow access to BSkyB's VideoCrypt encoded channels throughout all of Europe except in the United Kingdom (UK).

The VideoCrypt system as used by DSS in the United States  differs from the European implementation. The European implementation is a purely  analog system that only scrambles the video. The DSS is  a completely  digital  system that encrypts  the  digitally  encoded video  and  audio. However there are some similarities.  The  most obvious is the smart card.

The  European  VideoCrypt system, like DSS, is based on  a  secure detachable  processor - the removable smart card holds all of  the critical  data.  The smart cards are both  the  systems'  greatest strength  and  weakness. Smart cards permit  the  broadcasters  to change  or  upgrade  their conditional  access  system.  In  small quantities  it can be relatively inexpensive but when there are  a few  million cards to be replaced, the costs increase. BSkyB  paid 21 Million pounds for their last card change. Originally they  had planned  to  change  their cards on a three to  six  month  cycle. Unfortunately when they changed their cycle, they gave the hackers enough time to hack the smart cards.