– by the scavenger

that guy could eventually get his computers back, if it was part of a civil seizure, but the time and money involved will be more than computers are worth. and for only 16 hours? a 12 step program for “criminals?” kind of like those kids who have to go to drug abuse counseling for brinign prescription medication to school.

maybe i'll think twice about a cable modem and stick with dial-up. jeez the lengths they'll go to nowadays to make a case…… – by ziwiwiwiwiwiwiwiwiwi

and i'm not against that at all. if you have the money, step up to the plate and order what you need, don't steal it! – by 505

when will average americans wake up and realize their goverment has been hijacked by corporate america.

it's called facism people!!!
– by techmaniac

no real point, i just find the irony in that to be delicious. – by kwestron 2k2

what's the big deal?

heck, if they'll prosecute winona, why assume they're not going to go after bandwidth-stealing geeks? – by hangemhigh

now, if the isp's started levying a charge on your bill for the cost of uncapping, then i would go ahead and do that too. – by boo!

i am a subscriber to buckeye cable system service, and yes there family does have a lot of control the paper they own is very biased.

but i have never had any problems with there cable modems they provide what was promised. there down load speeds are around 1mb per second. i have had it for 3 years and it has only been down 3 times that i can remeber and never for more than a few hours.

i think they should have been warned before the fbi got involved but then again these people did break the law. – by atheist

“..the authorities seized all the computers in his house save one–the computer in his living room, which happens to be the one he used to uncap his modem.”

doesn't smell fishy…noooo – by eyad

time to get off the drugs, son.

so how much of that $0.50 for the cdr does the artist get, anyway?

sheesh, and i don't even download/burn mp3's and i see that “boo's” was the most assinine post in this thread!

also, the fbi would have to be involved over local authorities unless all traffic, etc. was within the local authorities' jurisdiction. i agree it's overkill for the fbi to be involved in this case, but whenever “cyber” anything is involved, it definately crosses state and national boundaries.

just my $0.02 worth,
– by myrkat

does that make stealing legal or right? hell no. time to re-think your philosophy.

hahaha… thanks for the laugh. – by azdude

if any company can just call the fbi stormtroopers in over any little simple contractual issue then imagine what that means? no longer will anyone be safe from overzealous, greedy, shit-headed corporations such as buck-eye.

this type of thing does not have a major impact on society as [buckeye] would have you believe. i doubt uncapping a modem would lead to someones death.
– by the scavenger

… unless you're bandwidth-hogging activity kept some other person's vital, lifesaving information from getting from point a to point b in a timely manner (say, a data transfer between hospitals regarding the medication allergies of a particular patient about to be wheeled into surgery).

however, it would (at this point) be really hard to prove the scenario as anything beyond coincidence, and i admit, even the scenario painted above is an extreme example. but it seems that people will find any excuse to sue nowadays…

my problem with the cable companies is that they aren't regulated as utilities (i.e., gas, electricity, phone, etc.) by the public utilities commission (at least, not here in ohio).

cable television is (almost) ubiquitous. if you keep losing your cable service to frequent outages and experience poor service, there isn't any place you can go here in ohio to get your dispute settled, except maybe the atty. general's office. and the “average joe” is just too little to worry about…

– by k. adams

“gigs” as in a gigabyte connection? i may be wrong, but isn't standard/typical cable modem service 768 up 128 down?

the majority of us cable providers cap c-modem speeds as well, and then you can pay extra to upgrade your connectivity as needed. i'm not 100% sure how canadien broadband works tho' – by dm

how the heck would a vcr be used in any way to uncap a cable modem? how would an original cd of microsoft office? for that matter, how would a smartcard reader?

in cases involving computers, they typically seize the entire system, including the monitor. this despite the fact that preserving the chain of evidence means removing the hard drive from the system and making a copy of it to examine. no writes whatsoever are to made to the original drive, which is the first thing that would happen if you boot a system with a modern os.

even if the person is proven innocent, they'll be lucky to get their system back, and if they do, they likely will have had to replace it during the interim, despite the fact that all law enforcement really required for evidence was the hard drive.

this guy broke the law and should be punished, but law enforcement should be restricted to seizing only items that are actually required as evidence. after all, we're supposed to presume the person is innocent until proven guilty, right? – by lonnie m.

free music downloads, free news, free email, free…

too many have been given too much by too hardworking (read absent) parents. (yeah, i know, it's their fault. they cared more about money…..)

i'm stunned at the number of adultbabies still dependent on their parents in their 20s.

it's not a crime…it's just bandwidth…it's capacity just sitting there waiting to be used….

make me barf. – by cranky old man

all such transfers are done over point to point dedicated links. not only is it more reliable, it's required to ensure that the patients information isn't somehow leaked to prying eyes. – by dedicated line

– by kindergartner cop

and of course if the company doesn't want people to un cap – maybe they should let it be faster. it used to be 500kps, then 300, now 100 now barely 50. comcast goes through 15 nodes before it reaches anywhere. i don't see speed anywhere – and it's this reason why people uncap. and it proves that it didn't hurt anything. – by the one

whats the point of anonymusly complaining about it. send them a letter and let them know.

ok maybe one evening a black van will stop at your house and youll dissappear. i heard gwantanamo bay is mean to be very nice this time of year. – by do somthing about it

you will endup as slaves for your government, but hé you are the ones that put them there in the first place…

but don't worry, it's the same everywhere…
– by bassie.

“gigs” as in a gigabyte connection? i may be wrong, but isn't standard/typical cable modem service 768 up 128 down?

no – gigs as in gigabytes of downloads!

i.e. if you download 1 gig more in a month than your allotted you get charged.

get it?
– by fruityloop

– by rollertoaster tycoon

for people who actually were guilty they have two options, be accountable and get over it like a grown up adult and admit what you did, and/or change the laws.

this is the way the real world works kids, don't like it go back to the minor leagues and play your video games. if you want to play in the real world you better know the rules. – by reaper

vote libertarian – by mike

you think a download limit of 6-8gb a month is tough? from feb 2001 to last month i was paying $125 per month for an account with a 512mb download allowance. every mb after that cost 25c. talk about the wild west …

(it's not a matter of choosing another company, we're in a monopoly situation here.)

recently things improved – now i pay $105 a month and i can download up to 2gb without additional charges.

whenever i read about 'killer apps' to get people onto broadband (what, streaming video?) i just laugh. a couple of hours of that and i'm over the limit.

back to the topic – if he violated the eula, the isp should have terminated his contract and perhaps gone to court for the costs. they appear to have gone completely overboard.
– by spacejock

they took the man's vcr?? i bet the took all his doughnuts and coffee too. i think civil law has been broken here but how do you stop the fbi.

thank you all for voting the bush way. i just heard on the news that they are about to pass a law that will allow oil drilling in the nature perserves in alaska and yellowstone park.

welcome to bushland

where business counts and you don't

– by rax

– by rax

both the iv'th and the viii'th amendments to the u.s. constitution were violated here by there government in this case

the judge who issued the warrant, and the agents who executed it are should go to prison. the people who violated their internet service contracts should have their internet service downgraded or removed at the disgression of the isp.
– by constitutionallawyer

things like this should never occur. whenever the government does anything that is so obviously against the will of the people, officials should immediately start loosing jobs.
– by constitutionallawyer

and mycrotch, i have no idea how much the artist gets, probably nothing if i know the riaa… but thats not my problem, my problem is i make one “illegal” cd for every 10 legit cd's i make. so your 50 cents or whatever it is now becomes 5 bucks. and they know they have a goldmine because they will be upping the ante soon… and not that i personally pay for them, but i've burned off probably a thousand cd's at work, and not one was used to burn music.

get the idea, jackasses? just wait until files are too big to fit on cd's and we'll all have dvd's… how much do you think the music industry will want to take then? – by booooooo!

i think as a civil seizure they could hold it, but require a warrant to actually riffle throught it, although lawyer types in the audience would probably know better than me.

as for the people saying “don't do the crime if you can't do the time,” what gives? breaking a service contract doesn't equate to a couple of years in club fed, by rights this was something more the fcc would have been involved in.

there's also a statute about sending a threat via interstate communication, if they enforced that then half the usenet would probably have to shut down. make the punishment fit the crime, but enough of this biz . – by ziwiwiwiwiwiwiwiwiwi

hell, it wouldn't suprise me if our government knew about the plot from the beginning. what better way to get people to give up a little more freedom. scare the crap out of the people and they will give up all the freedom you want. what, you want to tap my phone? sure! go ahead.. read my email you say, why not. its a small price to pay for national security! ya right!

security and freedom are an illusion! don't believe me, refuse to pay your taxes and watch your freedom go out the window. money is power! – by ebcdic

fbi cant fight terrorism because they *are* the terrorists, and only the stupid sheep like mentality people don't see it clearly. – by uncap me baby, yeah!

imho – the magority of us residents don't truely appreciate all the nasties that their goverment pushs on other nations…just because some us residents were on the receiving end this time, everybody feels violated.

these practices have been steadily growing over the last few years. starting in mid 90s with m$ windozs. the us patent office has been making criminals out of everyone with enough intelligence to come up with a better way to do something inventive with their computer.

the us patent office… hindering innovation for over 100 years!! – by concernedcanuck

1. a cable modem subscription
2. a computer
3. oj simpson

this is your safest bet. – by tool

thats what broadband was made for but with these little pricks riaa and shit cable companys have a excuse

bull fucking shit – by wg

– by lab-rat

1) until recently, individuals who taped songs off the radio or made copies of cds they had purchased, say, for use in the tape deck in their car, infringed copyright. the home taping regime, which is now in force as the result of an act of parliament, changed this. individuals are now allowed to copy a sound recording of a musical work onto an audio recording medium (e.g. an audiocassette) for their own private use. – by boooo!

if everyone had some simple device which threw off the moitoring, everyone could get one and they wouldn't know who's door to knock on.. – by grayhat

we will all have high-speed internet someday but with all the laws and people watching you, you won't be able to do anything.

maybe read your email but only if it is blessed. and maybe news site if you pay $100 a month. but man will the text load fast on the high-speed since that will be all you can do with it. since everything else would be illegal

i'll be able to tell my kids “i was able to download and lessen to free music from the net (if all this crap keeps up, from the other side of plexiglas in jail)

to me the usa doesn't = freedom anymore it = corporations making $$$$ on us little guys. and figure out ways to get more of it if the have to us laws, they will.

i wish all us smart people on the net would get some balls and take a stand and say we won’t take it anymore. the raping of the american working class is bull shit and just will never stop because we don’t have the $$$$ for lawyers and i don’t know one that will work for free but co’s can buy buildings full of them and get out of anything and find ways to get more $$$ from us. – by the peoples voice

tell the blocks and paul shryock and all that was involved to kiss my hairy ass!!!

i feel sorry for the people that live in toledo that the have to put up with this shit!!! – by leave toledo or bust

well said m8 – if it weren't fir those greedy bastards you talk of you'd probably still have the wtc buildings (no offence)

the world doesn't hate america for no reason, its because the government are corporate whores that act like the big snotty kid everyone hates at school – by yada yada

paul & lana shryock
7838 westcroft drive (on the curve)
sylvania, oh 43560-1864
home phone: 1-419-885-5181 (call anytime & collect, if you wish)
business # (never available, so leave him voicemail): 1-419-724-7277
e-mail:
paul@shyrock.org (feel free to spam the hell out of this fat little man)

read more if you care:

more to follow…now have credit report, compensation history, epworth united methodist church records, stuff…gonna be fun & you can help take this guy down..& thanks if you do!
(this douchebag is a christian? – not) – by blockhead

what should and does not happen in it is not enough crime.

we need more it crime…and we need it now!!!!!!.

think im crazy. look at crime in general. 100 years ago if you stole you could easily hang in the middle of town square. today…since more and more people steal…you get rehab for 5 days.

look at murder…same thing.

the more crime any part of society see's is what make's the law's change.

desensitize it crime yourself and do some very very….very bad things with i.t. get ruthless. try to fram senator's, congress men, high profiled business men. try to hack their box, upload kiddy p0rn…and stream it off their server. whatever you do…dont forget there just isnt enough crime on the internet today.

tommorrow, i hope too see a well know political/business figure go to jail for cyber crime.

thank you for your time. – by awake

also im not for crime..actually 100% against it.

i hope all you us citizens here realize something though. this country was and still, and always will be founded on mutiny and murder. mutiny happened hundreds of years ago when we seaperated our self from the ones who got us here…england. murder from killing off all the native americans. these are the facts!!!. many people forget what the usa is founded on.

i love this country and never want to live anywhere else…but i understand how it works. it works very well. the usa would not be what it is today without that mutiny and murder.

now does that mean it was right? no…but from these very sad things are what give us the chance to sit here today and read these posts.

out of very sad things…comes great things.

i just wish the usa government would wake up and realize that there is more money in how we think than their current old traditions. if they could only see how free thinking could put more power and money in their pockets it would be great.

for the man who lost his vcr, smarcards, and the whole lot…im sorry. you didnt deserve that, that is just the way this country is. realize that and strike back with vengance. i wish the best of luck to you and all like you. dont give up.

btw…dont shrug at this, but what does posting on such board as these really do beside's creating a “bridge club gossip”.

about this comment –> “only a nation of weak sheep would put up with this crap. – by jefferson”

straight up, fuc you jefferson. have you tried to help. no you live as sheep aswell. get a clue and realize if you either a. pay tax's or b. live under government….your as much as a sheep as the rest of us. answer to that is no!!!! because your typing along with the rest of us. keep your mouth shut and realise your the “pot who called the kettle black” – by awake

it sucks though and isn't fair. people who actually steal things from stores (shoplifting) usually get a slap on the wrist and some probation.

these guys didn't even directly steal anything.

the punishment just doesn't fit the crime. – by mr roboto

now some may argue the fcc has rules against this but i have seen no mention in this article or has anyone provided a fcc number for the law that would affect.

i think the incident was a bit extreme and it does show how much corporations rulle things.

blah.blah.blah. – by fred

now what kind of business sets up a system where the users/clients can have a free for all on their system?

they're the ones who created the problem and then they go to “big brother” to solve it… like whinny little kids!
– by anonymous

however, for those of you thinking that bandwidth is just sitting there waiting to be used – lemme tell ya – it costs megabucks to have that bandiwdht just sitting there – and like it or not, these folks who hacked there modems to get more up/down usage did violate the law…its called bandwidth theft – plain and simple.

is this a felony? i would not think so, but saldy in this case the provider was able to lie about the estimate cost impact and get the charge elevated.

also, stop comparing everything to bill gates and microsoft – get a clue people… – by amazed…

funny, geeks like us wouldn't steal merchandise from a business that was accidently left unlocked, but we'll often go after intellectual property if we can get it through creative use of technology. we send in contributions for shareware while stealing from uncle bill (and then some will try to defend themselves by claiming, “he virtually stole his os and the mac gui”).

ps bill g. – i finally broke down and bought windows, but if i had wanted a mac, i would have bought one. – by medic420

1: “its just bandwidth, its not stealing”. wake up retards. the cable companies sell various levels of service, each with a progressively higher bandwidth. they also cost more. if you pay for the lowest level of service, and then uncap your modem, you’re essentially stealing the cost difference. no matter if the system has the spare bandwidth, you were offered the service, and chose a cheaper one. deal with the bandwidth you purchased, and don’t whine if you get your ass kicked for doing otherwise.

2. “the artists get royalties from the cd-rs.” its already been addressed that the royalties only come from music cd-rs, which boo, by no doubt leaves on the store shelf. so instead, i’ll just say this: rationalize it any way your have to. whatever lets you sleep at night.

3. “wow, getting over 100mb/sec?” read the post, dumbasses. he claimed his desktop was getting his mail at 100mbps. he also claimed he was running a mail server, meaning his desktop had a lan connection to the mail server. attention to detail, morons.

4. future posts: “wow, youlosers was an asshole.” i just spent twenty minutes reading through numerous “our government is corrupt but i’m too lazy to do anything about it, or (better yet), leave the f***ing country” posts. i’m running on four hours of sleep. stupidity like this hurts my brain right now. i’m cranky, get off me.
– by youlosers

on one side we have the impotent, foolish meek seeking fairness in a darwinian world. on the other we have the self-righteous and the avaricious protecting their interests and whatever cost or ideology necessary. in between we have the parasitic, who feign to resemble either so that they may benefit at the margins of this temporarily evolutionary stable arrangement.

should anyone really marvel at the irony that as a society we now spend approximately $250,000/person to “right” the “wrong” due to “cable modem uncapping”, some $1,600,000/person/yr to kill iraqis, yet only $150/death to act as “good sumaritans” to address environmental disasters as the recent tsumani that has devastated se asia? all the while, the new “moral majority” proclaims that ours is a “christian” nation?

values in our “christian” society are truly relative aren't they? to deny otherwise would be the ultimate blasphemy. if god exists, may she have mercy on our souls. if he doesn't, natural selection will certainly take care of the rest. – by agnostic apostle

2. is it a crime? yes. stealing of bandwidth is still stealing. just because you are not getting that 4 mbps downstream their websites advertise doesn't give you the right to steal the difference. not too mention, you should read the tos, it says they do not garauntee the advertised speeds.

3. put yourself in the cable providers shoes for a moment. let's say you are the sole profiter, and now you are having people steal bandwidth from loyal paying cutomers, much like yourselves, would you be worried about maintaining a customer base?

3. after all cable is a “hub” community, with upload saturation. mr. wirtz says he needed to transfer a few large files. if he was uploading while unacpped for 16 hours, that would have been 16 hours that everyone in his area would have suffered a diminished connection. he even set it to 100mbps which is theoretically impossible. last time i checked, cable coax could only handle about 50mbps on the high end frequencies. had he not been so greedy, punishment might have been lighter.

4. he said he ran uncapped for 16 hours, who knows how many other times. he was simply caught this time.

5. i have seen alot of “off-the-wall” suggestions within these comments, i'd advise all of you seriously reading them, to seek the advice of someone who knows what is truly happening. call the cable company, they will tell you their policy up front on uncapping. come on america, educate yourselves. – by tc

6. unfortunately, in america, we have both conservatives, and liberalists. so these comments get way out of whack by the more extreme of the two sides. i wouldn't really take any forum or comment listing to be good sound advice, not even what i have mentioned (being fair and honest). please research.

7. know the laws, which could be difficult, considering an ex assistant prosecutor was amidst those guilty mr. runner). hell the hidden camera used to record mr. runner was unlawfully implemented.

8. amidst all my rambling, i must admit, i believe that bring in the fbi was a bit harsh, but acceptable. at no point in time during the process of learning how to uncap a cable modem will encounter it is leagally safe to do this, in fact, you'll find do not do this! posted everywhere. they knew what they were doing, and they knew it was wrong.

9. in matter of education, scholars, or to understand how uncapping works, i think it might have been forgiveable, as long as they tried it, seen it worked, and finally discontinued their actions. but it didn't go down like that.

10. to all those people that will be “that tc guy is a f*cking retard”, i have only this to say, i have a b.s. in information systems security (cissp, mcse). i don't take kindly to someone stealing confidential data from our systems, exploiting company computers for personal gain, or tolerate the attempt of unauthorized access to system services and/or resources. all of which are stealing from the company in one way or another. people need to look at the situation ethically, and from both sides. – by tc

did i know that what i was doing was wrong? yes
do i think the punishment fit the crime? no. losing thousands of dollars in equipment, losing data, paying thousands in fines and court costs, getting a felony and going to jail just doesn't seem right to me. when it all came to an end, i was the only one charged. i know i was singled out for a personal reason that i won't get into here. the people that run buckeye cable are as crooked as they come and alot of people in toledo are aware of it. – by tb