DirecTV Extortion Program stopped by EFF

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EFF Gets DirecTV To Stop Extortion
Program

EFF Gets DirecTV To Stop Extortion
Program 06/15/2004 03:32 AM
It only took a few years of pressure, but DirecTV is backing down from their policy of extortion when it comes to anyone who has bought a smart card reader. The situation, in case you hadn't followed the case, was that DirecTV got access to the sales lists of some companies that sold smart card readers - which can be used to create cards for illegally accessing satellite TV. Of course, there are other, perfectly legitimate, reasons why someone might want a smartcard reader as well - but DirecTV didn't really care. Instead, they sent out threatening letters, demand ing $3,500 or filing a lawsuit, where you would need to prove your innocence, rather than have DirecTV show you had actually done something illegal. Last year, the EFF got involved in the case, and it appears they've convinced DirecTV to back off. They say they will "no longer sue or threaten to sue people merely for possessing smart card devices." They'll also make it easier for anyone they contact to prove their innocence prior to the case going to court. Of course, this doesn't solve the legal problems of many who have been hounded over the past few years by DirecTV.

Former DirecTV Bag Man Discusses
Extortion Campaign

Former DirecTV Bag Man Discusses
Extortion Campaign 04/16/2004 08:58 PM
As DirecTV continues their campaign to threate n anyone who bought a smart card reader, even if they did so for completely legitimate reasons, it looks like some more evidence is coming out against them. A former employee working in their anti-piracy division is now suing the company suggesting they forced him to do illegal and unethical things in forcing innocent people to pay up. He says he felt like "a bag man for the mob" and talks about how the anti-piracy operation "was an elaborate extortion racket," that rewarded employees based on how much settlement revenue they brought in. He points out that this encouraged them to work as hard as possible to make everyone pay up, whether or not they had done anything illegal.

Court Tells DirecTV To Stop Extortion
Plan One Day Later

Court Tells DirecTV To Stop Extortion
Plan One Day Later 06/15/2004 09:08 PM
It's beginning to sound like it wasn't so much the EFF's persuasive words that convinc ed DirecTV to stop suing people just for owning smartcard equipment. Just one day after that announcement was made, a judge has told the satellite TV company that they can no longer sue just for possession if they have no proof that the person actually did anything wrong with the equipment. It certainly took the courts long enough to come to that conclusion, causing problems for plenty of people who were wrongfully sued. In the meantime, this ruling makes you think that DirecTV already knew it was coming when they made their little "promise" to the EFF yesterday.

Hacker Extortion

Hacker Extortion 12/29/2003 11:46 PM

Cyber Blackmail Wave Targets Office Workers: Nice.

Cyber blackmail artists are shaking down office workers, threatening to delete computer files or install pornographic images on their work PCs unless they pay a ransom, police and security experts said.

The extortion scam, which is believed to have surfaced one year ago, indiscriminately targets anyone on the corporate ladder with a PC connected to the Internet.

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Legalized extortion by any other name

Legalized extortion by any other name 09/27/2004 06:35 AM
CNET News.com's Washington watcher, Declan McCullagh, gets behind the Senate Commerce Committee's approval of an controversial bill.

When I stopped smoking

When I stopped smoking 06/14/2004 08:37 AM

On the Sunday before my surgery, I said to Tori -- "You know I haven't decided to stop smoking yet."

Then after the surgery, not sure which day it was (probably Tuesday morning) in the ICU, the surgeon comes to see me, really sharply dressed, with a sharply dressed woman with him (not sure who she was).

The doctor says "You're a computer guy, right?" I said I was. "What's the word you guys use for seeing something?" I asked if he meant visualize. "That's it!" he exclaimed.

"Now I want you to visualize yourself as a smoker." Since I had been trained in meditation, I thought I was about to be deprogrammed. Okay, I'm visualizing.

"You're dead!" he said and started laughing.

What do you mean? I asked. "People like you who keep smoking are usually dead within three years," he explained. Gulp. Somehow, in all the doom and gloom it had never really sunk in that I had almost died. If I had waited another couple of weeks to deal with this, well, I don't even like to think about it.

Anyway, that was the moment. That was when I decided to stop smoking.

Can GameStop Be Stopped?

Can GameStop Be Stopped? 08/17/2004 03:18 PM
GameStop's lack of a competitive advantage leaves investors with many questions.

why i stopped using PHP for big projects

why i stopped using PHP for big projects 06/01/2004 04:56 PM
some of these points have been mitigated a bit by PHP5, but nobody uses PHP5

PSP Stopped Charging

PSP Stopped Charging 04/03/2005 05:57 PM
My PSP has stopped charging the battery or otherwise acknowledging that it's plugged in. There's no LED on the charger...

Can Wal-Mart Be Stopped?

Can Wal-Mart Be Stopped? 01/27/2004 10:17 AM
Wal-Mart hits an expansion roadblock. Will it take a detour or drive right through?

but they stopped short

but they stopped short 03/27/2005 05:01 AM
"possible showdown" .. Miami Herald

miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11233240.htm
track this site | 3 links

FBI Investigating Cyber-extortion

FBI Investigating Cyber-extortion 05/13/2004 12:42 PM

FTC Shuts Down Pop-Up Extortion Firm

FTC Shuts Down Pop-Up Extortion Firm 11/06/2003 05:04 PM

A How-Not-To Guide to Cyber-Extortion

A How-Not-To Guide to Cyber-Extortion 06/27/2004 11:35 AM

Online extortion on the rise

Online extortion on the rise 12/19/2004 03:45 PM
In the "New Economy," extortionists don't threaten to trash the premises and shoot the owner; instead, they threaten to DDoS the server. Thankfully, "extortion" already has an "e" at the beginning, sparing us the otherwise inevitable neologism.

Fighting Online Extortion

Fighting Online Extortion 09/19/2004 11:24 AM

Two remanded on extortion charges

Two remanded on extortion charges 03/26/2005 09:31 AM
Two Belfast men are remanded in custody charged with a number of offences including extortion.

Click Fraud - It never really stopped

Click Fraud - It never really stopped 07/19/2004 06:23 PM
Direct and Related Links for 'Click Fraud - It never really stopped' CNET/News.com discuss an old scam that most of us have probably not seen in awhile, Click Fraud. This is a scam perpetrated when a person aims to defraud an advertising based program such as Google’s Adsense. The perpetrator uses special software designed create the fake “click throughs” hitting the ad’s counter when in reality it is just a piece of software that is creating these fake numbers to fool the the ad company….

Web attack stopped, says Microsoft

Web attack stopped, says Microsoft 06/28/2004 10:07 AM
A Russian website which spread malicious code to Internet Explorer users over the weekend has been shut down, Microsoft said today. Hackers manually attacked websites running on unpatched Microsoft IIS servers, injecting them with malicious JavaScript code. Visitors to the compromised websites were then redirected to the Russian website, which attempted to download a backdoor keylogging program called Download.Ject onto the user's PC.

Display All Services that Have Stopped

Display All Services that Have Stopped 01/05/2004 09:09 PM

Internet Stopped Being Fun This Year

Internet Stopped Being Fun This Year 12/28/2003 06:33 AM
BizReport.com Dec 28 2003 6:12AM ET

Passport gets stopped at the border

Passport gets stopped at the border 12/31/2004 02:17 PM
ZDNet Dec 31 2004 6:12PM GMT

Net tax ban stopped short in Congress

Net tax ban stopped short in Congress 11/10/2003 11:11 PM
USA Today Nov 10 2003 4:22PM ET

Iraq: Can the kidnappings be stopped?

Iraq: Can the kidnappings be stopped? 09/18/2004 07:18 AM
Two Americans and a Briton are the latest foreigners to be abducted in Iraq. How should their governments respond?

Can the violence in Iraq be stopped?

Can the violence in Iraq be stopped? 04/21/2004 05:03 AM
Four British soldiers are among the injured in rush-hour bombings in Basra that have killed nearly 70 people. Can the violence be stopped?

Web Site Stopped from Distributing SP2

Web Site Stopped from Distributing SP2 08/16/2004 04:22 PM
theWHIR Aug 16 2004 8:15PM GMT

U.S. Cellular Begins Phone Reuse and
Recycling Program - Program Benefits
Environment, Proceeds Go to Charity

U.S. Cellular Begins Phone Reuse and
Recycling Program - Program Benefits
Environment, Proceeds Go to Charity 07/25/2004 02:14 AM
U.S. Cellular has taken the lead in protecting the environment by teaming up with RMS Communications to collect unused wireless phones to safely dispose of them and protect the environment and public health from hazardous waste. [PRWEB Jul 25, 2004]

HotFix Watch: The primary advertised
program does not run when it depends on
another program

HotFix Watch: The primary advertised
program does not run when it depends on
another program 08/18/2004 08:36 PM

One companies response to a SCO
extortion letter!

One companies response to a SCO
extortion letter! 01/23/2004 03:54 AM
It is important to stand shoulder to shoulder and let SCO know that they cannot play the heavy handed extortion...

Feds Thwart Extortion Plot Against Best
Buy

Feds Thwart Extortion Plot Against Best
Buy 01/07/2004 02:38 PM
hiero writes "From an article in the Star Tribune: 'Federal authorities said Tuesday they thwarted an extortion plot against Best Buy Co. Inc. by a man who ...

Wi-fi hopper guilty of cyber-extortion

Wi-fi hopper guilty of cyber-extortion 06/26/2004 06:00 AM
The Register Jun 26 2004 10:09AM GMT

Compensation for Bandwidth Costs is
Extortion?

Compensation for Bandwidth Costs is
Extortion? 03/06/2004 02:04 AM
Slashdot Mar 5 2004 9:05PM GMT

Internet Extortion Ring Smashed

Internet Extortion Ring Smashed 07/23/2004 02:47 PM

Bookies extortion gang caught

Bookies extortion gang caught 07/21/2004 01:08 PM
Police arrest three Russian members of a global gang which sought to extort money from British bookmakers by sabotaging websites.

Acacia Excited About Yet Another Patent
Extortion Win

Acacia Excited About Yet Another Patent
Extortion Win 07/06/2004 03:00 PM
Acacia, the company that goes around threatening just about everyone with patent infringement is now all excited that they've convinced one smaller cable company to pay up, rather than face an extended lawsuit fighting Acacia's bogus patents. It sure is getting repetitive, but once again, can someone explain what Acacia has done to benefit innovation?

The Windows archive bit is evil and must
be stopped

The Windows archive bit is evil and must
be stopped 03/28/2005 11:33 PM
Computerworld Mar 29 2005 3:43AM GMT

So It Was The Carriers Who Stopped The
iTunes Phone

So It Was The Carriers Who Stopped The
iTunes Phone 03/25/2005 06:57 AM
While Motorola's Ed Zander made a gallant effort to cover for the wireless carriers by claiming the Motorola iTunes phone was really delayed due to Apple's marketing strategy, more and more evidence is appearing suggesting that (as most had assumed from the beginning) it's really the wireless carriers who are freaking out that (oh no!) content might somehow get on phones without them getting a cut. This is the classic walled garden mindset of the carriers, and it's exactly what's going to drag them down. While the carriers want to pretend they're music moguls and make sure their hand is one of many in the tiny pie, others are working on ways to route around the carriers. The more complicated the carriers make it, the more it's just going to push users to find other solutions, and then the carriers will be guaranteed not to get a cut at all. Their best bet is to embrace the offerings that are coming along as a way to sell more phones and more service. Stop worrying about getting their few pennies for each song. Even if they got it, it wouldn't last long. Once again, the carriers are showing that they've learned nothing from the internet.

Overseas voters won't be stopped by
Pentagon

Overseas voters won't be stopped by
Pentagon 09/22/2004 05:05 PM
The Pentagon's decision to restrict international access to the government's official overseas voting-assistance Web site came under new scrutiny today, as intrepid Bush Administration watchdog Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., called on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to immediately reverse the policy. There's slim hope, though, that Rumsfeld will respond to Waxman's call; in the past, the Congressman's letters to Bush officials -- calling for, say, a more transparent reconstruction contracting process in Iraq, or for an investigation into the White House's misleading cost estimates on its Medicare reform bill -- have all gone unanswered.

Bill Gates Hasn't Stopped Spam Yet

Bill Gates Hasn't Stopped Spam Yet 04/08/2005 08:15 PM
Early last year, Bill Gates announced that he was concentrating on the spam problem and had a few ideas on how to stop the problem. Of course, all of those ideas sounded like ideas that others were already trying -- and there was still plenty of spam. It's now been a year since Bill Gates said that his methods could get rid of spam in two years and it's not clear if his efforts have done very much. Certainly, Microsoft has been suing spammers, and some claim that the overall amount of spam has been decreasing a bit. However, we're still quite a long way from getting rid of spam -- which means the special department at Microsoft who's only job is to manage Bill Gates' spam (even if it's not as much as we were originally told) will probably still have plenty of work to do a year from now.
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DirecTV Extortion Program stopped by EFF

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