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Cable Box Piracy Ring Busted

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the too-much-freedom-to-innovate dept.

WC as Kato writes "The U.S. Attorney's Office said it has busted a huge cable piracy ring. They made over $10 million in 5 years by advertising on the Internet and in magazines. Their only cover to the illegality of their actions was a disclaimer that the boxes were not illegal to own. Police say customers who purchased them are now at risk of being arrested. Did any customer actually fall for their 'legal disclaimer?'"

4 of 352 comments (clear)

  1. I don't understand ... by errl · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ... why people never stop their illegal activities when they've earned enough money? I mean, $5,000,000 should be enough for anyone for quite a while? It seems that they'll eventually get caugh otherwise and don't have any real use of the money anyways, like in this case...

    1. Re:I don't understand ... by fmlug.org · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Money, thats why people dont stop there illegal actions. Its like gambaling, oh I just won $50 but if I put it all back in I get $500. That kinda pay off clouds peoples judgement, most of the time the fact that they may end up losing everything doesnt even enter into their minds. We live in a society where every one wants to get rich easily and dont wana work for the money. The reality is the easier the money is to come by the quicker your going to lose it, well at least most of the time. I guess thats my 2 cents.

  2. Re:I have to say... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I live near glasgow and it's a cottage industry locally; pirate games/dvds/software, cable boxes/sky cards, chipping xboxes/ps2's etc etc.

    Thats what happens when you get fairly savvy ex electronics workers sacked by IBM/National Semiconductor/Motorola etc etc...

  3. Stainless Steel Rat by wowbagger · · Score: 5, Interesting

    In Harry Harrison's "Stainless Steel Rat" series, one of the central tenets of the lead character, "Slippery" Jim DeGriz, the most wanted interstellar criminal, was "When a con finally starts going bad, walk away - don't try to cash that last check". Hence he very rarely got caught.

    It is the same thing here - the folks who are smart enough to walk away before things go south are never caught - thus we never really hear about them in the news. The only ones we hear about are the stupid ones who cash the last check and get busted.

    I once heard a cop say "I've been throwing these punks up against the wall for 20 years, and I've never once found a Mensa card in their pockets."

    --
    www.eFax.com are spammers