‘StarHub’ Invites People to Exchange Their Pirate TV Box with a Legal One for Free

• ‘StarHub’ is offering its TV boxes for free to those who give away their pirate devices for destruction.
• The telco will give two years of its streaming service for free to those who grab the opportunity.
• Singapore may soon pass a law that will crackdown on the sale and ownership of pirate devices.

Singaporean telecommunications company ‘StarHub’ is making a peculiar proposal to pirates in the country, inviting them to hand over their pirate TV boxes for destruction and receive a legal 4K streaming device in exchange without having to pay anything. The free box will come with a two-year rental of StarHub TV+, worth $120, and includes access to the Disney+ streaming platform. This promotion will remain up for grabs until August 31, 2021, so pirates in the country have roughly another month to think about it.

The catch is that StarHub is not gifting those boxes to the people but instead rents them free of charge for 24 months. After that period is over, users will have to pay to continue using them, and many are expected to enter into new two-year subscriptions.

Also, StarHub’s TV boxes are configured for the promotion of the operator’s interests, so they generate advertisement and referral revenue for the telecom firm, which is another reason to give them away like that. And finally, it goes without saying that turning them into pirate devices will be impossible, so those who take the exchange will lose access to a galore of content they otherwise enjoyed.

Still, though, pirates who are fed up paying for pirate services that can go offline at any moment or those who don’t feel comfortable providing financial support to criminals may find the exchange deal interesting. That is especially the case when considering Singapore’s new Copyright Bill, which was introduced to the country’s parliament only two weeks ago and is to be decided upon in September 2021.

According to it, illegal TV boxes like those sold for piracy will be hunt a lot more fiercely, with those selling them facing fines of up to $150,000 and those owning one threatened to pay up to $75,000. An imprisonment sentence of up to five years is also under consideration for both categories. As such, there’s now a great amount of pressure placed upon both the sellers and the owners of these devices, and ‘StarHub’ is looking to take advantage of this ambiance and capture many of those looking to turn to legal options.

If you’re considering it, our in-depth Disney+ review may be of help in making up your mind. Also, whatever you decide to do, don’t forget that using a VPN is always a good idea when streaming content, so make sure to check out our list with the five best VPNs for Singapore.