Texas Penal Code - PENAL § 31.12. Theft of or Tampering with Multichannel Video or Information Services

(1) makes or maintains a connection, whether physically, electrically, electronically, or inductively, to:

(2) attaches, causes to be attached, or maintains the attachment of a device to:

(3) tampers with, modifies, or maintains a modification to a device installed by a multichannel video or information services provider;  or

(4) tampers with, modifies, or maintains a modification to an access device or uses that access device or any unauthorized access device to obtain services from a multichannel video or information services provider.

(1) “Access device,” “connection,” and “device” mean an access device, connection, or device wholly or partly designed to make intelligible an encrypted, encoded, scrambled, or other nonstandard signal carried by a multichannel video or information services provider.

(2) “Encrypted, encoded, scrambled, or other nonstandard signal” means any type of signal or transmission not intended to produce an intelligible program or service without the use of a device, signal, or information provided by a multichannel video or information services provider.

(3) “Multichannel video or information services provider” means a licensed cable television system, video dialtone system, multichannel multipoint distribution services system, direct broadcast satellite system, or other system providing video or information services that are distributed by cable, wire, radio frequency, or other media.

(1) has been previously convicted one time of an offense under this section, in which event the offense is a Class B misdemeanor, or convicted two or more times of an offense under this section, in which event the offense is a Class A misdemeanor;  or

(2) committed the offense for remuneration, in which event the offense is a Class A misdemeanor, unless it is also shown on the trial of the offense that the actor has been previously convicted two or more times of an offense under this section, in which event the offense is a Class A misdemeanor with a minimum fine of $2,000 and a minimum term of confinement of 180 days.