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DirecTV’s letters and lawsuits accuse people of purchasing and using “illegal signal theft equipment” and “pirate access devices.” But what exactly are these “accused” devices and how do they work? On this page, the DirecTV Defense Website gives you the rundown and the lowdown on current smart card technology, including many of the legitimate uses that these devices have – uses that should not be collateral damage in DirecTV's fight against satellite signal piracy.

  • Smart Card
    A “Smart Card” simply put is a computer on a card. Most Smart Cards today are more powerful than the first Intel-based PCs. Generally a Smart Card is used instead of a “Memory Card,” when computer memory needs to be protected from general access. The memory is usually protected by means of a PIN code, password, or other authentication method – much like your ATM PIN code protects access to your bank account, except here, the code and account are all kept on a single card instead of requiring a bank terminal.

  • ISO-7816
    ISO (www.iso.org) is the “International Organization for Standardization.” ISO-7816 1/2/3 define the “Physical characteristics” (Part 1), “Dimensions and location of the contacts” (Part 2), and “Electronic signals and transmission protocols” (Part 3) of virtually all Smart Cards in use today. These standards generally apply to all manufacturers of Smart Cards and Smart Card systems, not to a particular vendor of Smart Cards like DirecTV.

  • Smart Card Reader/Writer (or Re-Programmer)
    Smart Card Readers and Writers, by definition, are identical. A Smart Card Reader is simply an interface or signal converter that allows a computer to talk to the Smart Card. There are many different kinds of Smart Card Reader/Writers, but most are ISO 7816 compliant and therefore compatible with most Smart Cards. Some have slightly different interfaces on the computer side and require slightly different drivers. For example, a “Phoenix” and “Simple Mouse” Smart Card Reader differ only in how they reset the Smart Card and can be made compatible by minor software changes or swapping pins.

  • "Unlooper" and "Bootloader"
    “Unlooper” is a nickname for a Universal Smart Card Terminal or Smart Card Repair Terminal. It gets its nickname from the ability to bring a Smart Card out of a “Software Loop.” When a card is in a software loop, it is unusable and does not respond to external commands. While unloopers and bootloaders may at some point enjoy widespread use for legitimate purposes, many are currently configured exclusively for use in pirating DirecTV’s satellite signal. Study and experimentation by security professionals and academics with unloopers and bootloaders are still legitimate practices; however other legitimate uses are rare.

  • PC/SC (www.pcscworkgroup.com)
    The PC/SC Workgroups mission is “To promote a standard specification, to ensure that smart cards, smart card readers, and computers made by different manufacturers will work together;” and “To facilitate the development of smart card applications for PC and other computing platforms.”

    Note: There are PC/SC drivers for Linux and Windows for Phoenix Style (SSP-Litronic 210, www.litronic.com), Simple Mouse (See www.cybermouse.de), and UCST (See www.sdlogic.com for UCST PC/SC Drivers) Smart Card devices.

  • Emulator
    An “emulator” is a device that acts like or takes the place of another device, usually a CPU or Microprocessor (note: a Smart Card is nearly identical to a microprocessor.) Emulators are used and built all over the world and have been around for decades.

    An ISO 7816 “emulator” is simple a circuit board that is designed to the ISO 7816 specifications. It can be used in place of a real Smart Card for development and testing of ISO 7816 devices.

    An emulator needs specific software designed for the particular Smart Card to be “emulated.” In most cases, it is nothing more than a circuit board with contacts in the same place as an ISO 7816 Smart Card. It also will usually have an RS-232 signal converter so it can be connected to a serial port on a PC. Note, however, that many of the dealers DIRECTV sued sold emulators in combination with software designed to pirate DIRECTV's signal by emulating a DIRECTV access card.

  • Simulator
    A simulator is a development and debugging tool used in development and testing. A simulator takes the place of actual hardware and speeds up Smart Card research and development by allowing simulation of the hardware on a PC. A Smart Card Simulator was included in the Microsoft Windows DDK (Driver Development Kit) [June 2000], in addition to PC/SC sample code and a PC/SC sample driver.

  • DirecTV Access Card (ISO 7816 Smart Card)
    There are at least 4 generations of Smart Cards issued by DirecTV. Generations are as follows; P1 (sometimes called the “F Card”), P2 (sometimes called “H Card”), P3 (sometimes called the “HU Card/Football Card”), and P4 (no nickname.)

    The security codes for the first 3 generations of cards have been broken and are being replaced by DirecTV with P4’s. There is also a rumored 5th Generation Card, said to be completely developed “in-house” at DirecTV. The first 4 generations were developed in full or part by NDS (www.nds.com) and are based off the NDS VideoGuard system.

    The current and previous DirecTV access cards, designed and made by NDS, are compatible with ISO 7816 devices. It is DirecTV’s position that bootloaders, unloopers, and blockers are “pirate access devices” and “designed primarily” for receiving DirecTV service for free.

    Additionally, they claim these devices were designed specifically for DirecTV Access Cards, despite the fact that 1) DirecTV Smart Cards were purposely designed by NDS to comply with the previously-defined ISO 7816 specifications that USCTs have always used and 2) that NDS “out-sourced” some or all of the Smart Card technology it used for the DirecTV Access Cards from other companies that already make ISO 7816 Smart Cards. Thus, it is no surprise that devices that are compatible with ISO 7816 standards also work on DirecTV Access Cards.

Is it illegal to merely possess these devices?

No. Merely possessing these devices is not illegal; however, intercepting DirecTV is. As long as you possess and use these devices for legitimate purposes, you are not violating the law.

Examples of uses for Smart Cards and Smart Card equipment.

As noted above, there are numerous legitimate uses for Smart Card technology.  Among them are:

  • Access Control to computer systems.

    • Windows 2000 (and XP) have Smart Card Access control built in.  Windows 2000 was beta in 1999 and released in January 2000 (OEM) and February 2000 (Retail.)

    • Linux has PS/SC drivers for all popular Smart Card Readers.

  • Designing and Testing E-Voting Systems

  • Security and Pre-Paid Accounts for GSM Phones

  • Storage of Cryptographic keys (like PGP)

  • Hard Disk/Network encryption systems

  • Access control to doors or rooms

  • ID Cards

  • Time Cards

  • Visa/Amex Cards.

  • Account Balance Readers (Key chain size)

  • Medical Record Cards

  • Military Identification and Data Storage Cards.

  • IT professionals, programmers or anyone else developing or testing Smart Card Systems

  • Security professionals, designers, and researchers

These are just a few of the many legitimate purposes.  In fact, there are so many, it is impossible to list them all.




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