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November 28, 2002 on 9:25 am | In Main |

I saw this link via BoingBoing, of a raid of “over-clocked” cable modems, and wondered, where is the outrage over this? Here are some of the key points:

  • What a poor technical solution. Why would the bandwidth be limited inside a user’s home? A user should be able to use whatever cable modem he desires.
  • This isn’t theft of service. At the point where other cable users are affected, the “increased bandwidth” is no longer increased.
  • Anyone who could state that this “theft” of service cost $250,000 is a liar.
  • This really is a simple contract dispute, a violation of the terms-of-use agreement. All the cable company had to do was end the service of the users of the modified modems.
  • Why was a “computer crime” unit invovled? Even worse, it appears that this unit doesn’t know much about the operation of networks.
  • Why was the FBI invovled? Do we need the federal government invovled in this matter? This is obviously a local cable company; they are so clueless they couldn’t survive outside their monopoly area. If there is a federal law here, we need to amend or appeal it.
  • The photograph showed confiscated computers. What to the computers have to do with this? The issue and evidence resides inside the cable modems. Doesn’t anyone respect the 4th amendment?

What a terrible tragedy here: A big loss of taxpayer money, a clueless business allowed to exist at the mandate of the federal government, and a hapless local law enforcement unit.

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