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Brazilian Pirates Hijack US Military Satellites

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the because-they-can dept.

blantonl writes "Brazilians all over the country are using modified amateur radio equipment to communicate with each other using US Military communications satellites — effectively creating their own CB radio network on the backs of the US Military. Recent efforts to crack down have resulted in arrests of some of the users, however the behavior still continues today."

13 of 359 comments (clear)

  1. Wow by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's a lot of pirates.

    1. Re:Wow by x_IamSpartacus_x · · Score: 5, Funny

      You're not kidding. The FSM in all is noodley wisdom is cracking down on global warming. We keep seeing Pirate stories and we keep seeing stories showing how Global Warming isn't happening like this story yesterday.
      ALL HAIL FSM!

      ~Touched by His noodley appendage~

    2. Re:Wow by stoicfaux · · Score: 5, Funny

      Excuse me? Have you not heard about the Bermuda Triangle, UFO abductions, or Income Tax? All the work of ninjas.

  2. what's with the !pirates tag? by Animaether · · Score: 5, Insightful

    read up, whoever tagged this story with "!pirates"
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_radio

    piracy has widespread meanings, from the somali crazies type pirates to software/music/movie/etc. pirates to pirate radio communication.

    just like hacker vs cracker, that battle was 'lost' many decades ago, probably before you were even born.

  3. Back in the day.... by Subgenius · · Score: 5, Informative

    I remember when those birds used to pickup terrestrial FM stations. You could listen to the downlink 'in the clear.' This use of military satellites goes back to, at least, 1978.

    --
    Toil is Stupid. Don't be Stupid.
  4. It's called pirate radio by langelgjm · · Score: 5, Informative

    Bad geek! It's called Pirate radio, and it's been around longer than the Pirate bay!

    --
    "Anyone who [rips a CD] is probably engaging in copyright infringement." - David O. Carson
  5. Re:Pirates? by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    thousands of Brazilians

    Trazilians, you mean, surely.

  6. An even easier option... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...would be to give the crews of these satellites some weapons to fend off the pirates.

  7. No, just old by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 5, Informative

    These are old "bent pipe" FLTSATCOM birds from the 1980s. The transponder tech dates to the 1970s. It's all going to be superseded by the Mobile User Objective System very soon now, so it might even be a good idea to just sell Brazil the old system. Well, assuming the GEO slots aren't needed.

  8. Ninja by evilkasper · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ninjas don't leave evidence nor any other trace , kinda part of being a ninja. See if a Ninja hijacked a ship they'd also erase all traces of its existence; yes they are very thorough. Then after they were done with that they'd whip out an electric guitar and rock hard. (all my assumptions are based of 80's Ninja movies)

  9. The definition of "Pirate", among other things... by geekmux · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So now pirate is going to be used for anyone using something for nothing?

    So now "prostitute" is going to be used for anyone selling sex?

    So now "pilot" is going to be used for anyone flying a plane?

    Uh, hate to break it to you, but sometimes the right word is used properly. But if you prefer, we could always call them "hackers" and really stir up the geek shit pot...

  10. So if i pirate Music with these Satellites... by freedom_india · · Score: 5, Funny

    If i pirate Music with these Satellites, does the RIAA sue the US Navy for "facilitators of illegal downloading" ?
    I would be thrilled to read in the newspapers the next day that RIAA lawyers were water boarded 183 times by the marines...

    --
    "Doing what i can, with what i have." ~ Burt Gummer
    1. Re:So if i pirate Music with these Satellites... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      ...were water boarded 183 times by the marines.

      When I saw that the CIA had waterboarded a terror suspect 183 times, it made me wonder how the decision was made after they had waterboarded the guy 182 times and not gotten what they wanted to try just once more.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.