Rogers Cable scored some quick but questionable points last month when it extended a deal to satellite TV pirates, offering free installation and set-top boxes to anyone shut out by recent security upgrades at DirecTV. The American DTH caster recently stopped service to an early version of its access cards, closing a widely exploited security gap and cutting loose an unknown number of signal pirates in Canada and the U.S. Rogers almost immediately announced that in exchange for the defunct satellite equipment it would sign viewers to its digital cable service. Rogers offers the same deal to legitimate satellite viewers.

Some have questioned the ethics of the move, which appears to reward piracy, and spokesperson Taanta Gupta admits that ‘a small number’ of existing customers have called to complain.

Satellite casters are often wary of making repatriation offers for fear of alienating existing customers. ‘It’s very difficult to predict,’ says Paul Nathanielsz, senior director of product marketing at Bell ExpressVu, noting that the company has had mixed results with such offers in the past.

But business ethicists don’t see a problem. The offer turns pirates into ‘honest citizens,’ according to Joseph D’Cruz, a business professor at the University of Toronto, and takes fair advantage of a change in the highly competitive cable/satellite market. ‘It’s good business and it’s good public policy,’ he says.

The Canadian Coalition Against Satellite Signal Theft also approves. ‘This is a very legal program and a smart move,’ says spokesperson Harris Boyd, despite grumbles from the public.

Rogers says it is ‘pleased’ with the response it has seen so far, but would not release details.

Meanwhile, members of CASST appeared before the Industry, Science and Technology Committee late last month, pushing the government to pass Bill C-2, an amendment to the Radiocommunication Act which would impose greater penalties on signal pirates and dealers of black-market equipment. A similar bill made progress last year but failed to pass before parliament broke for the Liberal leadership convention.

It is estimated that 500,000 people receive pirated signals in Canada, draining some $400 million from the industry each year.

-www.rogers.com