I remember getting a cease-and-desist letter, registered mail, from @Home because I was running a server off of my cable modem. Still, it was pretty amazing at the time! A 3 megabit connection (only 128K upstream, IIRC) in 1998 was nothing to sneeze at...
Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)
51–60 of 486 posts
Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
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This comment is deeply inappropriate. Engaging in ideological flamewar is against HN guidelines and is just plain rude to all of the HN folks who actually work in the field you're being casually dismissive of.
I don’t think the parent post was engaging in an ideological flame war. As a way to start educating yourself, I’d recommend reading about the correlation between long jail sentences and African American heritage.
https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/publications/racial-d...
(Edit: this DOJ report is more relevant to the time period of the article. https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/sfc-drmtsg8690.pdf)
Deny the bad sides of America all you want, but given US history, the parent presents a very likely hypothesis.
Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)
#53Here in Australia, you would just need to call the TIO to get it sorted out. Likewise if financial institutions are stuffing you about, call ACMA. If it's an energy company, call Energy and Water. A perfect example of how the private sector cannot self regulate to the benefit of consumers simply because a profit motive exists. Every time I've made an ombudsman complaint I have received Good Service™ from the company…
It seems worth saying that in this instance a lot of the problem was that once it got into the hands of the prosecutors Comcast could not simply "just drop" the charges but only request that the state do so.
I actually think that a lot of the problem is the fact that "cable theft" is a class of crime all on its own!
"Sometimes, operators turn on a signal by accident or forget to deactivate it after a tenant stops a cable subscription. People are liable for any services they use in this way and it is generally advisable to contact the cable company to report an unexpected cable signal"
https://www.mylawquestions.com/what-is-cable-theft.htm
That's absurd, it can only be the result of corruption.
Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
This comment is deeply inappropriate. Engaging in ideological flamewar is against HN guidelines and is just plain rude to all of the HN folks who actually work in the field you're being casually dismissive of.
I don’t think the parent post was engaging in an ideological flame war. As a way to start educating yourself, I’d recommend reading about the correlation between long jail sentences and African American heritage. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/publications/racial-d... (Edit: this DOJ report is more relevant to the time period of the article. https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/sfc-drmtsg8690.pdf ) Deny the ba…
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Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
This comment is deeply inappropriate. Engaging in ideological flamewar is against HN guidelines and is just plain rude to all of the HN folks who actually work in the field you're being casually dismissive of.
I don’t think the parent post was engaging in an ideological flame war. As a way to start educating yourself, I’d recommend reading about the correlation between long jail sentences and African American heritage. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/publications/racial-d... (Edit: this DOJ report is more relevant to the time period of the article. https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/sfc-drmtsg8690.pdf ) Deny the ba…
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Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)
#56I was a "broadband technician" around then and AT&T Broadband did not give AF if you were stealing cable or not. I only handled cable modem installs and quit after a year to go major in philosophy and because: - Getting quietly threatened once (with AR-15 up against the customer's front door) on a troubleshooting call that I wasn't able to leave until "the internet started working". - Having to increasingly go do cab…
I guess it really did depend on the mood and demeanor of whatever technician got sent out on a given day.
Back in those same years, it was a painful, nonstop pendulum swing every month-or-two, between a) cripplingly unusable internet, and b) working Internet but with absolutely every channel unlocked for free.
Everytime something happened that required a technician to come out while it was in state "b", it always triggered a stern talking to to teenage-me from a tech and them putting the filter back on and ruining the Internet again until finally the next time another tech presumably couldn't fix it without again removing the filter. I frequently had successive visits that left me stranded in state "a".
Comcast, man.
Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)
#57Holy moly blast from the past. I remember reading this on slashdot. Let's not all visit the site at the same time lest it get slashdotted!
It's all static content (and badly in need of refurbishment, which I will be responsible for) -- but, yes, please don't abuse the good folks at MIT's CSAIL who donate the hosting.
Don’t read the article before commenting? I’m way ahead of you. :)
Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
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> I wonder if there's any good data on the sentencing for cable theft broken down by race. If there were, that would arguably be good content for HN. In the absence of such data, completely baseless allegations of systemic racism are ideological flamewar and do not belong here.
In what world is "I wonder if" a "baseless allegation"? It seems to me we're still several steps away from alleging anything and you're going off half-cocked.
Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)
#59I was a "broadband technician" around then and AT&T Broadband did not give AF if you were stealing cable or not. I only handled cable modem installs and quit after a year to go major in philosophy and because: - Getting quietly threatened once (with AR-15 up against the customer's front door) on a troubleshooting call that I wasn't able to leave until "the internet started working". - Having to increasingly go do cab…
Most of this story is horrific and ...funny. You should write a screenplay.
We had free HBO in my house in the early 90s because the cable guy apparently just decided to let us have it. I never understood how that worked.
Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)
#60I feel like this story could be titled “In Which a Smart Person Overestimates Their Competency With The Legal System” Always get a lawyer.
But ... he didn't need a lawyer. He needed to threaten litigation but you don't need an attorney to do that for you.
This was related to a criminal case. Threatening any kind of litigation or trying to defend yourself without an attorney puts you in the category of pro se litigant, the territory of jailhouse appellants and sovereign citizens. Even if you are smart and right, the system has already decided you are crazy, stupid, or both. You’re screwed from the get go.