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FBI Raids Homes and Seizes Bandwidth Pirates' PCs
Saturated Subnet writes "Recently in Toledo, OH FBI agents and a local police task force raided 13 residence and seized 23 computers. Some users of the local cable broadband provider had uncapped their cable modems." It appears to be a smaller ISP, and the
article says these 23 people cost them a quarter of a million bucks. Who
has time to look at $10,800 worth of pr0n?
Who has time to look at $10,800 worth of pr0n?
Taco, some things in life you make time for.
because dude, you're getting a Dell.
"There ought to be limits to freedom"
According to their statement, Buckeye should stand the bandwidth usage, or condone it - "The use of excessive bandwidth is something that Buckeye does not condone or will not stand."
Since they called in the FBI, they clearly aren't standing for that kind of thing. So I guess what they're really trying to say is that they condone cable modem uncapping?
Mod me down, and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!
Yes, by the Highway Patrol/RCMP/What-have-you, but you wouldn't expect the National Guard to be scrambled to intercept your car.
Obivously, you don't play much Grand Theft Auto 3
Bad guys uncap modems: $0 (they're h4x0rs after all)
FBI arrests bandwidth stealers: $4,000
Bad guys sue FBI for violating their ( choose one, civil rights, first amendment rights, blah blah) and win settlement: $25,000,000
So let's recap:
Uncle Sam: Out $25,004,000
Cable Company: Same as before
Bad Guys: You can buy a hell of a lot of bandwidth with $25,004,000
Another wonderful example of our legal system at "work".
"Most of the broadband providers are really just beginning to learn how the networks perform, what the possibilities are, and how they deal with theft," he said.
My sides hurt from laughing at this. How many years do they need to be in the business before they figure out how their networks perform? Even better question... How can they feel justified to sell us a service they don't understand? How do they know $225000 or whatever amount of money was stolen if they can't explain a simple thing like networking??
Just a thought
Sorry I wasn't able to post sooner regarding this story, but I got home from school, and all my computer shit was confiscated! I had to go next door just to check my e-mail!
This blows, and shit -- is my friends cable internet connection really this slow?
dmarien
True. But why take the PC's? The bandwith isn't on them. :)
- Dan I.
I saw fine them a total of damages + (damages * 3), plus give them 90 days in the can each.
I say we fine them damages + (damages * 4) - damages. You can call me apologist if you want, but damages + (damages * 3) is just too much!
Oh, and no more than three months in jail. None of that draconian 90 days stuff. Let the punishment fit the crime.
;)
Synergy is your friend
The worst thing you can do to them is force them to use dial up.
ender-iii
and what do you think is a T1 or a T3?
Precursor to OC-x. OC-1 is rated at 51.84Mbps.
"We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
"True. But why take the PC's? The bandwith isn't on them. :)"
Probably because the FBI saw the "The Internet" icon on the desktop and thought they had stolen it.
"Derp de derp."
Let's see, steal billions, defraud 401K pension plans, no problem. Steal otherwise-unused bandwith, get arrested.
Yep, One Nation, Under God has sure served as a good moral compass these last 48 years.
Infuriate left and right