They send a signal to the dish that authorizes the programming that you are requesting. Similar to when you first start up service.
Live large thinksnow… that is definitely a fluke!!
The phone line isn’t for authorization; it’s for billing information. If it’s hooked up, then the system regularly dials into the service provider and uploads info on what PPV stuff you’ve watched. Then the provider bills you for it. If the phone line isn’t hooked up, then you have to call in so they know what to charge to your account. I think that thinksnow’s machine has been deluded into thinking that it has a phone line connected so, like a system with a phone connection, it doesn’t have to get an authorization code to unlock PPV. (Not that I want to give any service pirates any hints. 
)
Not so fast Thinksnow. It is not really a fluke, more like a buffer that you have found. The card in your DirecTV box will store a certain amount of PPV purchases on it and when it connects via dialing up, dumps all those purchases to their billing department. If your PPVs sit on your box for more than 30 days or so, it will stop working until you plug it into a phone line. You may also get a phone call from DirecTV if they don’t hear from your system in a while.