PIN protection doing my head in!!!

Basil Plumley

Ex Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2000
Messages
8,270
Reaction score
710
Points
1,878
Location
Enjoying my system - for once!
Before, it was bad enough that we had to enter the PIN on only 2 channels. At this moment in time, there are 4 movie channels broadcasting and asking for a damn PIN!!:mad: And one of them is for a Very Brady Sequel - which is a certificate 12!!

And, to make matters worse, there are 2 certificate 15 movies in my anytime at the moment (Transamerica and Kingdom Of Heaven) that don't require a PIN!!

There is nobody in my house under the age of 18...why an't I switch of the damn PIN protection!!??!!:mad: :mad:

Rant over...:)
 
I'm the same no one in my house is under 18 and I should have the option to turn it off. Thats life though


Could be worse though could be a VM subscriber they seem to be having all sorts of problems, having to press their famous red button which for some of them doesn't work and then having to enter a pin. The pin has to be entered for every film on the movie channels except for Sky Movies Family one and quite a few seem to be having problems.

At least our pin works!!!
 
It does seem strange that Sky don't think OFCOM rules apply to Anytime broadcasts.

Having just come off the phone to Sky to vent yet more steam, don't be supprised if these particular movies dissapear soonish...the woman dissapeared for 5 minutes and (probably pretended to) spoke to someone and was very apologetic and seemed flustered. I tried to convince her that my gripe wasn't the fact that I didn't have to enter my PIN on anytime...but didn't want to enter my PIN PERIOD
 
Still never been asked for a PIN for any SKY movie at anytime of the day both live, recorded or Anytime, I was once asked for a PIN on a FILM4 18 rated movie but that's it, I assume this is how it should work but reading posts it seems it doesn't for others.
 
Aren't you the lucky one :D

AFAIK taking Ofcom rules literally it works like this

If its a realtime transmission of a film that is before its allowed watershed time (10pm for 18, 8pm for 12/15 rated) then it MUST be PIN protected. In this scenario the broadcaster is duty bound to ensure kids etc are protected from not seeing what they shouldn't.This is above beyond any restrictions the housholder may wish to also impose

This is not the case for recordings be it to dvd/vhs/pvr of which sky+ is the pvr. It happens to be provided by sky but its a separate entity in terms of ofcom's rules. Recordings are only under the juristiction of the owner of the box who is taken to be the person ensuring kids don't see what they shouldn't

This means planner recordings are exempt and hence the recent addition in the settings to allow it to be switched off for recordings only.

It also means that anytime is exempt as its NOT live. Its recorded and only when each program is fully recorded to the box does it become available.

Yes, its bloody frustrating to a household that only has Adults but short of going back to only showing 18's post 10pm and 12/15's post 8pm then its has to be lived with. Blame ofcom not sky.
 
Aren't you the lucky one :D

AFAIK taking Ofcom rules literally it works like this

If its a realtime transmission of a film that is before its allowed watershed time (10pm for 18, 8pm for 12/15 rated) then it MUST be PIN protected. In this scenario the broadcaster is duty bound to ensure kids etc are protected from not seeing what they shouldn't.This is above beyond any restrictions the housholder may wish to also impose

This is not the case for recordings be it to dvd/vhs/pvr of which sky+ is the pvr. It happens to be provided by sky but its a separate entity in terms of ofcom's rules. Recordings are only under the juristiction of the owner of the box who is taken to be the person ensuring kids don't see what they shouldn't

This means planner recordings are exempt and hence the recent addition in the settings to allow it to be switched off for recordings only.

It also means that anytime is exempt as its NOT live. Its recorded and only when each program is fully recorded to the box does it become available.

Yes, its bloody frustrating to a household that only has Adults but short of going back to only showing 18's post 10pm and 12/15's post 8pm then its has to be lived with. Blame ofcom not sky.

Thank you for clearing that one up. Elementary my dear watson...er Mr Watson i mean.!:rotfl:
 
I thought with the latest f/w version you can disable it? It seems like that is the case for me when I go through the system set up etc.
 
Hardly a difficult task though is it - punching 4 numbers on your remote? :D And, no, I don't have kids in the house.
 
Hardly a difficult task though is it - punching 4 numbers on your remote? :D And, no, I don't have kids in the house.

No it's not...but you miss the point completly. Before the movie channels changed, the PIN protection was only on 2 channels (SM 9 & 10 or SM HD 1 & 2). Now it seems that all 10 channels are open to it...and it appears that soon, so will Anytime.
 
No it's not...but you miss the point completly. Before the movie channels changed, the PIN protection was only on 2 channels (SM 9 & 10 or SM HD 1 & 2). Now it seems that all 10 channels are open to it...and it appears that soon, so will Anytime.

Sorry - actually I didn't realise all 10 movie channels suffer from it. I haven't watched much from them recently, certainly not since the names have changed.
 
If they let you sign something with the contract saying you had no kids in the house and they switched it off for you that would be better and give the coverage they want. Or is it another 'government' dumming down that we don't have the brains to work out ourselves how to operate it.
 
Maybe I have just been lucky but I have not had to enter a pin for anything yet.
 
Maybe I have just been lucky but I have not had to enter a pin for anything yet.

Might be something to do with the fact you don't subscribe to the movie channels! :D

ATB

Max
 
No it's not...but you miss the point completly. Before the movie channels changed, the PIN protection was only on 2 channels (SM 9 & 10 or SM HD 1 & 2). Now it seems that all 10 channels are open to it...and it appears that soon, so will Anytime.

Indeed but what I don;t think you appreciated is that prior to the reshuffle ONLY 9 and 10 showed movies prior to their designated watershed times. Now all 10 are able to do so. Hardly a retrograde step imho as that (pin entry aside) means they can broadcast more 12/15/18 films now.
 
personally i think the onus should be on the subscriber, for what people view and dont view in any particular property..sky or anybody else should not decide for us!:mad:
 
I've never had to enter a pin and have the full package, other than box office naturally, but a friend has the same situation so if any gets a way to resolve it then would be of great help.

Lee
 
Right, my 2p.

Its 4 numbers for gawds sake and no, I don't have under 18's in my house either.

ALL the movie channels since the re-shuffle screen movies BEFORE the watershed as already stated somewhere in this thread which means less of those crappy low budget films that were always on during the day. Thumbs up for that:thumbsup:

Anytime programmes will NOT ask for a PIN if you have the option for pin protect on pre watershed playback disabled in your parental controls settings.

These are NOT Sky's rules but the rules that Sky has to follow. Why not complain to ofcom if you can't be bothered to enter 4 digits.:rolleyes:
 
So is this the norm now then?

It's doing my nut in too.

There is a Parental Control option in the Services menu and within that a further menu entitled "Viewing Restrictions"

Entering this gives all categories of movie from U to 18.

You can choose to either restrict them (by pin presumably) or not. Mine are ALL unrestricted and yet, despite that, I still have to enter the pin everytime I change channel to anything above a U.

This becomes an even bigger hassle if you like channel surfing to find a programme sometimes like I do.

What is the point of this whole submenu system, it does not seem to work?
 
So is this the norm now then?

It's doing my nut in too.

There is a Parental Control option in the Services menu and within that a further menu entitled "Viewing Restrictions"

Entering this gives all categories of movie from U to 18.

You can choose to either restrict them (by pin presumably) or not. Mine are ALL unrestricted and yet, despite that, I still have to enter the pin everytime I change channel to anything above a U.

This becomes an even bigger hassle if you like channel surfing to find a programme sometimes like I do.

What is the point of this whole submenu system, it does not seem to work?

It does work, but Ofcom state that films with a designated rating that are broadcast prior to their watershed time must be viewed by entering a pin number. So if you want more racier or action movies to be on before nine o'clock, I'm afraid it's the pin #! Can't blame Sky for this one :D

ATB

Max
 
It does work, but Ofcom state that films with a designated rating that are broadcast prior to their watershed time must be viewed by entering a pin number. So if you want more racier or action movies to be on before nine o'clock, I'm afraid it's the pin #! Can't blame Sky for this one :D

ATB

Max

Ok I understand that explanation and thank you, but if I'm paying for something it should be up to me without any form of "Nannying".

I agree that Ofcom should insist that there are Parental Control facilities built into the hardware to allow user control (which there are) but that is as far as it should go.

After all, I'm considerably over 18 and I could go to a store to rent or buy any movie I wanted to watch at any time.
 
If your looking for something to watch, or simply channel hopping, it should be set up where you enter your pin and the box remembers it for 5 minutes so you don't have to enter the pin again for the next 5 channels.
 
Ok I understand that explanation and thank you, but if I'm paying for something it should be up to me without any form of "Nannying".

I agree that Ofcom should insist that there are Parental Control facilities built into the hardware to allow user control (which there are) but that is as far as it should go.

After all, I'm considerably over 18 and I could go to a store to rent or buy any movie I wanted to watch at any time.

A letter to your MP perhaps?

Theoretically, you would be challenged at the rental store if you were below the age required to view the film you were trying to rent. The pin is having the same effect via the TV. It only happens if the film is showing before it's watershed.

Unfortunately not everyone is as thoughtful as you as to what minors can get to watch. By insisting that a film has a pin number input if it is shown before it's watershed time, it does eliminate the problem somewhat.

The alternative is only U rated films prior to 9 pm, would you really want that? It's only four digits after all.

ATB

Max
 
It may only be 4 digits, but it's not much use if you're trying to record a film to an external device, you just end up with a blue screen asking you to enter your pin:mad:

If you switch it off in the menu, it should be off completely.
 
I was really :censored:, the damn box made me put the PIN in to watch an F4 movie during the day, twice in one year it's just too much!!!

;)
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom