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I worked with Sky broadcast computing staff back in the day. Apparently they had some massively expensive plan for enforcement technology. During one meeting s

I worked with Sky broadcast computing staff back in the day. Apparently they had some massively expensive plan for enforcement technology. During one meeting someone said 'why not just put a glass in the corner of the streamed image to indicate it's licensed for a pub?' Job done.

4k 12y ago
Simple solutions are often the best ones. Out of curiosity, how (if at all) was that person rewarded for saving Millions for the company?
- staticfish 12y ago
  Hah, now you're being funny.
- jlebrech 12y ago
  rewarded on a per month basis
- madaxe_again 12y ago
  Probably by getting to define the specification for it, so their outsourced successor could build it.
- kybernetyk 12y ago
  Sky? Well, he/she probably was fired.
- guelo 12y ago
  I don't see how having inspectors driving from pub to pub could have saved millions.
teekert 12y ago
"and why is it sometimes full, sometimes empty and sometimes in between?"
- bmelton 12y ago
  To prevent against someone purchasing a pint glass sticker and putting it on their TV.
wahsd 12y ago
Was it a difficult thing to get that image into the broadcast? I am wondering if there were some limitations to why it couldn't be some cycling set of symbols that would change every day / week / month as a means for identifying the subscription status. Because if I were an "enterprising publican" I would simply send someone over to where they had a subscription and take a look at what level the pint glass was, which is a lot more difficult than finding constantly changing stickers.
- _mulder_ 12y ago
  It is, the level of the pint glass changes every day, so the "enterprising publican" would have to send someone out everyday and change his sticker every day too. Sounds like quite a bit of effort.
  - jamesbrownuhh 12y ago
    And fundamentally, the visibility of the pint glass is not a "guilty / not guilty" switch. Even if something that looks like a pint glass is on display, no matter how well faked, it still comes down to whether Sky have a record of having sold a commercial subscription to the address at which it is observed. So it's a useful indicator, but only one of many, and therefore doesn't have to be fully bulletproof.
- mzs 12y ago
  Or just have the icon move slowly, or change from one to the another regularly through the day. That would foil the stickers.
desarun 12y ago
Ah Isleworth, how I hated thee.
- Sarkie 12y ago
  I can't hear you from all the way in the middle of fucking nowhere.
  - desarun 12y ago
    Then get down to the Coach & Horses and drink your sorrows away.
F_J_H 12y ago
Simple solutions - reminds me of this great story I came across a long time ago (likely an urban myth): A toothpaste factory had a problem: they sometimes shipped empty boxes, without the tube inside. This was due to the way the production line was set up, and people with experience in designing production lines will tell you how difficult it is to have everything happen with timings so precise that every single unit coming out of it is perfect 100% of the time. Small variations in the environment (which can’t be controlled in a cost-effective fashion) mean you must have quality assurance checks smartly distributed across the line so that customers all the way down the supermarket don’t get pissed off and buy someone else’s product instead. Understanding how important that was, the CEO of the toothpaste factory got the top people in the company together and they decided to start a new project, in which they would hire an external engineering company to solve their empty boxes problem, as their engineering department was already too stretched to take on any extra effort. The project followed the usual process: budget and project sponsor allocated, RFP, third-parties selected, and six months (and $8 million) later they had a fantastic solution — on time, on budget, high quality and everyone in the project had a great time. They solved the problem by using some high-tech precision scales that would sound a bell and flash lights whenever a toothpaste box weighing less than it should. The line would stop, and someone had to walk over and yank the defective box out of it, pressing another button when done. A while later, the CEO decides to have a look at the ROI of the project: amazing results! No empty boxes ever shipped out of the factory after the scales were put in place. Very few customer complaints, and they were gaining market share. “That’s some money well spent!” - he says, before looking closely at the other statistics in the report. It turns out, the number of defects picked up by the scales was 0 after three weeks of production use. It should’ve been picking up at least a dozen a day, so maybe there was something wrong with the report. He filed a bug against it, and after some investigation, the engineers come back saying the report was actually correct. The scales really weren’t picking up any defects, because all boxes that got to that point in the conveyor belt were good. Puzzled, the CEO travels down to the factory, and walks up to the part of the line where the precision scales were installed. A few feet before it, there was a $20 desk fan, blowing the empty boxes out of the belt and into a bin. “Oh, that — one of the guys put it there ’cause he was tired of walking over every time the bell rang”, says one of the workers.
- 12y ago
chengiz 12y ago
Surely the cost is not adding the image but in making sure there is a difference between glass and non-glass streams (adding additional frequencies and so on), which would have cost quite a bundle.
- mauricemir 12y ago
  no It is so they can charge pubs more a lot more for showing Football (Soccer) games
- Sanddancer 12y ago
  You wouldn't need additional streams. Just include in a firmware update a check to see if the smart card in the set-top box has the pub flag set. If the card does have the flag set, show the proper overlay.
spyder 12y ago
Why not just check by address? Inspector goes to the pub, sees the match going on TV then checks it in a list if the pub at this address has the right subscription.
- NamTaf 12y ago
  In the UK pubs can be much more like their name actually implies - public houses. If the publican also resides on the premises, he may have a home subscription for his own personal use. In that instance, he's perfectly entitled to have a home subscription to that address.

4k 12y ago

Simple solutions are often the best ones. Out of curiosity, how (if at all) was that person rewarded for saving Millions for the company?

staticfish 12y ago
Hah, now you're being funny.
jlebrech 12y ago
rewarded on a per month basis
madaxe_again 12y ago
Probably by getting to define the specification for it, so their outsourced successor could build it.
kybernetyk 12y ago
Sky? Well, he/she probably was fired.
guelo 12y ago
I don't see how having inspectors driving from pub to pub could have saved millions.

teekert 12y ago

"and why is it sometimes full, sometimes empty and sometimes in between?"

bmelton 12y ago
To prevent against someone purchasing a pint glass sticker and putting it on their TV.

wahsd 12y ago

Was it a difficult thing to get that image into the broadcast? I am wondering if there were some limitations to why it couldn't be some cycling set of symbols that would change every day / week / month as a means for identifying the subscription status. Because if I were an "enterprising publican" I would simply send someone over to where they had a subscription and take a look at what level the pint glass was, which is a lot more difficult than finding constantly changing stickers.

_mulder_ 12y ago
It is, the level of the pint glass changes every day, so the "enterprising publican" would have to send someone out everyday and change his sticker every day too. Sounds like quite a bit of effort.
- jamesbrownuhh 12y ago
  And fundamentally, the visibility of the pint glass is not a "guilty / not guilty" switch. Even if something that looks like a pint glass is on display, no matter how well faked, it still comes down to whether Sky have a record of having sold a commercial subscription to the address at which it is observed. So it's a useful indicator, but only one of many, and therefore doesn't have to be fully bulletproof.
mzs 12y ago
Or just have the icon move slowly, or change from one to the another regularly through the day. That would foil the stickers.

desarun 12y ago

Ah Isleworth, how I hated thee.

Sarkie 12y ago
I can't hear you from all the way in the middle of fucking nowhere.
- desarun 12y ago
  Then get down to the Coach & Horses and drink your sorrows away.

F_J_H 12y ago

Simple solutions - reminds me of this great story I came across a long time ago (likely an urban myth): A toothpaste factory had a problem: they sometimes shipped empty boxes, without the tube inside. This was due to the way the production line was set up, and people with experience in designing production lines will tell you how difficult it is to have everything happen with timings so precise that every single unit coming out of it is perfect 100% of the time. Small variations in the environment (which can’t be controlled in a cost-effective fashion) mean you must have quality assurance checks smartly distributed across the line so that customers all the way down the supermarket don’t get pissed off and buy someone else’s product instead. Understanding how important that was, the CEO of the toothpaste factory got the top people in the company together and they decided to start a new project, in which they would hire an external engineering company to solve their empty boxes problem, as their engineering department was already too stretched to take on any extra effort. The project followed the usual process: budget and project sponsor allocated, RFP, third-parties selected, and six months (and $8 million) later they had a fantastic solution — on time, on budget, high quality and everyone in the project had a great time. They solved the problem by using some high-tech precision scales that would sound a bell and flash lights whenever a toothpaste box weighing less than it should. The line would stop, and someone had to walk over and yank the defective box out of it, pressing another button when done. A while later, the CEO decides to have a look at the ROI of the project: amazing results! No empty boxes ever shipped out of the factory after the scales were put in place. Very few customer complaints, and they were gaining market share. “That’s some money well spent!” - he says, before looking closely at the other statistics in the report. It turns out, the number of defects picked up by the scales was 0 after three weeks of production use. It should’ve been picking up at least a dozen a day, so maybe there was something wrong with the report. He filed a bug against it, and after some investigation, the engineers come back saying the report was actually correct. The scales really weren’t picking up any defects, because all boxes that got to that point in the conveyor belt were good. Puzzled, the CEO travels down to the factory, and walks up to the part of the line where the precision scales were installed. A few feet before it, there was a $20 desk fan, blowing the empty boxes out of the belt and into a bin. “Oh, that — one of the guys put it there ’cause he was tired of walking over every time the bell rang”, says one of the workers.

12y ago

chengiz 12y ago

Surely the cost is not adding the image but in making sure there is a difference between glass and non-glass streams (adding additional frequencies and so on), which would have cost quite a bundle.

mauricemir 12y ago
no It is so they can charge pubs more a lot more for showing Football (Soccer) games
Sanddancer 12y ago
You wouldn't need additional streams. Just include in a firmware update a check to see if the smart card in the set-top box has the pub flag set. If the card does have the flag set, show the proper overlay.

spyder 12y ago

Why not just check by address? Inspector goes to the pub, sees the match going on TV then checks it in a list if the pub at this address has the right subscription.

NamTaf 12y ago
In the UK pubs can be much more like their name actually implies - public houses. If the publican also resides on the premises, he may have a home subscription for his own personal use. In that instance, he's perfectly entitled to have a home subscription to that address.