$180 Million for Piracy Conspiracy

theCoder writes "According to an AP story printed in the Orlando Sentinel, Steven R. Frazier has been ordered to pay $180 million restitution for attempting to sell a device that would decrypt the satellite signals sent into everyone's homes. In addition to spending the next 5 years in Federal prison, Frazier will have to pay $500 a month for the next 30,000 years, though no one really expects him to live long enough to make all the payments. That value is based on estimated loses DirectTV and Echostar may have incurred had Frazier been able to sell his devices. Being ordered to pay restitution for actual damages is one thing, but paying for some made up number of future damages? Maybe if I catch someone trying to break into my car, I can sue him for the damage he would have caused if he succeeded..."

Comments

too harsh

[LBArrettAnderson]

That value is based on estimated loses DirectTV and Echostar may have incurred had Frazier been able to sell his devices.

they don't put people to death for attempted murder, do they? that seems a little harsh to me.

Re:too harsh

[brianosaurus]

I don't know if that's a fair comparison. My understanding was that those who incarcerated Mitnick were ignorant of his capabilities and were afraid he could launch nuclear missles (or some ridiculous load of crap) if they gave him access to a touch-tone phone. They were used to murderers and stuff, but hackers were an unknown, and they feared the unknown.

In this case, there was a trial, and the guy was planning to sell a device. Maybe what he was doing was illegal, and maybe he deserves a jail sentence.

But the court stopped him before any damages were incurred. The actual damages to the satellite companies is zero. Being ordered to pay $180 million in "potential damages" is absurd.

Re:too harsh

[brianosaurus]

They caught the guy before the devices were delivered. There will be ZERO people using his device every month. There will be ZERO dollars lost because of people using his device instead of buying legitimately.

And a common theory is that the people who would have used that device will find alternatives and wouldn't have signed up with Dish/DirectTV anyway. Granted, that's just speculation, but then again so is their $900million number.

And while he won't ever actually pay out $180 million at $500/month, its still on the books. It still sets a ridiculous precedent, and might encourage other industries to use this sort of business model.

Re:too harsh

[Qzukk]

Oh wow, planning on selling devices. Thats surely worth $180million.

I know, lets send the cops out, and just give out speeding and parking tickets at random. 'cause, everyone was planning on speeding that day, and everyone will at some time park illegally.

You'll be first in line to pay your thoughtcrime fines right?

punishment fitting the crime

[pytheron]

There is something severely wrong about financially crippling somebody for life.. it is just totally out of proportion. Someone needs to pass round the smelling salts to the judges.

remember...

[bman08]

When I was a kid you actually had to commit a crime before arrest, trial and conviction.

Land of the free?

[incom]

IMHO having to pay that money indefinately is essentially slavery, and any sane person would flee to another country to regain thier freedom.

Seriously People

[drwav]

OK, let's forget about the $500/month payment and just focus on the FIVE YEARS in prison for a crime he never actually committed. To top it all off, this wasn't even a serious crime; it was IP infringement, which is already a sketchy area to begin with.

Every time something like this happens, I always see a few people that say "good, they broke the law, they got their punishment", well I have a little something called "empathy".

Put yourself in their shoes, would you like it if you were sent to federal prison for five years just because you might have cut into the profits of an already greedy and overpaid corporation? You need to put this in perspective, people charged with assault and other various violent crimes get off easier than this. This is complete and total bullshit and you people are just going to sit there and not only take it, but praise the government for brining another "dangerous criminal" to justice. Let me make it absolutely clear that the he didn't actually do anything, he was charged with conspiracy to do something.

Doesn't the amount of power that corporations are demonstrating they have SCARE YOU at all? Or are you just to completely oblivious to the world around you?

Re:The punishment is valid

[blakestah]

Really? I think there is a valid bit of constitutional law here.

Who owns the electro-magnetic fields in my house? Does DirectTV own them, or may I sample them freely?

Now, I respect the rights of DirecTV to make money by selling cable through the airwaves, but I have a real problem with the government telling me what I can and cannot do with EMFs someone else is beaming into my house.

Re:From the article

[DragonPup]

Actually, it does cause some financial damage reguardless. See, illegal hookups, especially from the tap(where the drop starts from at the pole, or sometimes inside a large building) tends to be very shoddy. Then it starts leaking signal. That's bad cause leaked cable signal can interfere with a lot of very important things. Things like police radio, or in very severe cases, it could cause some interference with air traffic control systems if it is near an airport. So the cable company must actual spend time and money checking for leakage and correcting it. There'd be a lot less leakage without cable theft.

Another way it can cause damage is black box descramblers. They got a nasty habit of backfeeding signal up the drop. That can cause reception problems for everything feeding out of the tap(taps in boston tend to serve roughly 8 residences/tap. Though larger taps do exist). Once people start to complain of reception problems(ghosting and humbars are common), cable company rolls out a tech to fix it. Sending techs out is not free. :p

-Henry