Former Anti-Piracy 'Bag Man' Turns On DirecTV

Cowards Anonymous writes "SecurityFocus has this story: 'A one-time enforcer in DirecTV's anti-piracy campaign is suing his ex-employer for wrongful discharge, after he allegedly resigned rather than continue to prosecute the company's controversial war against buyers of hacker-friendly smart card equipment.' John Fisher claims that he was hired by DirecTV as a senior investigator to track down satellite signal pirates. Instead, he claims, he was no better than a 'bag man for the mob'; coercing people into paying money for stealing services when he had no proof whether they had really done so."

Comments

Too bad for him

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

Instead, he claims, he was no better than a 'bag man for the mob'; coercing people into paying money for stealing services when he had no proof whether they had really done so."

If only he hadn't blown the whistle, he could have had attractive career opportunities at the RIAA.

Re:Coerce how?

[Planesdragon]

Is it now actually the case that in the US the law is too expensive for people to use? This is how it appears from the stories I read on /. and elsewhere.

It's not "too expensive." It's just "expensive." You can always get a lawyer--quite literally, if you can't afford one, you can get one. Even in civil suits. In each case, talk to the presiding judge and say "I'm poor, I need help."

That said--any passing student of game theory can appreciate why it would be a very bad idea to insinuate us from the cost of doing justice. If you take $500 from me and don't do what I paid you for, I don't want to spend more than $500 getting it back.

New Job Offer

[Nom du Keyboard]

he was no better than a 'bag man for the mob'; coercing people into paying money for stealing services when he had no proof whether they had really done so.

I understand that SCO has just made him a job offer.