With the Premier League now in full swing, Cable TV has won a crucial victory off the field. Still remember the war between the broadcaster and the illegal decoder gangs? In the first round early last year, the station switched to a digital system, making analogue decoders obsolete, but then the syndicate came up with digital decoders.
In round two, Cable TV struck back by frequently changing the codes during the European Championship last summer, making decoders hard to operate. But in just a few weeks the illegal operators came up with a hand-held device (pictured) that allowed customers to reset their decoders after checking a website for the most recent codes. Recently, decoding syndicates claimed they had invented a smart card that could automatically update codes and cut out the irritation of keying in codes.
But people using the decoders screamed a couple of weeks ago in an internet chat room, claiming Cable TV had sent a virus through the wires to their decoders, making all their smart cards void. Apparently stalls in Shamshuipo's infamous Ap Liu Street have been shut for the past couple of weeks while they try to come up with a new decoding method.
I like this game. Perhaps it's the best way to make Hong Kong a real technology hub.