To The Real King!!
August 8th, 2000, 12:56 PM
I realize this is NOT in the correct forum but believe it needs to be SEEN due to the content!!
The EUROCARD STING!!! http://www.legal-rights.org/images/enemy.jpg
Hi Everyone,
This info about an ongoing "STING" operation by the US Government will explain why many people THINK that DTV are turning off subscriber cards. They KNOW the CAM ID's of those cards and may even have DONE BUSINESS with smaller dealers. THAT is why these cards went down.
Read this article and bear in MIND that the US Government CANNOT operate in countries other than the United States. Stealing a SIGNAL IS illegal in the USA and people should be AWARE of that. It also points out that this is an ONGOING investigation.
This article may serve to open the EYES of many people and make you aware that YOU may be under investigation.
At http://www.msnbc.com/news/443264.asp?0nm=-21A
Satellite cheaters caught in Web sting
Customs went online to nab users of stolen access cards
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 — Federal authorities on Tuesday disclosed a 22-month undercover sting operation in which government agents sold thousands of counterfeit cards that allowed users to steal satellite TV signals. Dubbed "Operation Smartcard.net," the sting went after people who bought counterfeit access cards providing DirecTV programming at no cost.
THE INVESTIGATION, still under way, has resulted in charges against five individuals, officials at the Justice Department and U.S. Customs Service said. They said another five have pleaded guilty to charges of violating intellectual property rights protections.
"Buying and selling counterfeit products and services like satellite television access cost legitimate businesses and ultimately the consumer millions of dollars each year," Attorney General Janet Reno said in a statement announcing the sting operation.
Officials said the investigation began in Blaine, Wash., in September 1998 after Customs officials noted a dramatic increase in seizures of pirated or counterfeit satellite access cards being smuggled into the United States from Canada.
The smart cards are used by satellite services such as DirecTV to select the television channels that can be received by an individual satellite dish at a customer’s home.
However, authorities said there is a large underground market for counterfeit cards, at a black-market price of $325 to $425.
To track down such users, undercover agents sold counterfeit access cards they called "Eurocards" through an Internet business created by Customs agents.
By the time the Customs Service terminated the undercover portion of the operation in June 1999, agents had sold 3,195 illegal cards to dealers and 382 cards to individuals, generating more than $516,000, which was turned over to the U.S. Treasury, officials said.
In July 1999, DirecTV used electronic countermeasures to shut down all of the pirated cards sold through the government’s Web site.
Customs Commissioner Raymond Kelly said those purchasing the cards "thought they got away without paying for satellite TV. Instead, these cyber-pirates will pay in a way they hadn’t considered."
Officials estimate that use of the illegal cards costs the satellite TV industry $6.2 million annually in lost revenue.
Reno said the investigation into cases uncovered by the sting operation was continuing and further cases could be prosecuted.
According to a joint release from the Justice Department and the Customs Service, the four who have pleaded guilty in the case are Michael Poulsen, Mountain View, Calif.; Mohammad Walid, Yorktown Heights, N.Y.; Linda Bauer, Hastings, Minn.; and Brian Angell, Warwick, R.I.
The agencies said felony charges have been filed against Dale Luster, Dallas; Kevin Greehey, Sarasota, Fla.; Tony Zielenski, Dallas; Larry Thompson, Shingle Springs, Calif.; Richard McCarty, Benzonia, Mich.; Ray Frost, Syracuse, Ind.; and Steve Ashline of St. Albans, Vt.
In all of the cases, those charged allegedly purchased and resold pirated or counterfeit access cards. Justice officials said it is a felony to distribute such electronic cards with the knowledge that the cards can be used without authorization to decode scrambled satellite television signals.
Violations of this federal statute carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
© 2000 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
I would imagine that this information could be USEFUL to those being investigated and serve as a warning to those who were not aware of this.
P.S. Did anyone NOTICE that this is only $144.00 per card and NOT the $325 + quoted. I guess there are some wealthy agents now and this was released to take the HEAT off of the “AGENTS“ DOUBLE AGENT SCAM for their benefit
Hope it helps.
CRAZY!!! http://www.legal-rights.org/images/seizures.jpg
http://www.legal-rights.org/images/niceday.gif
Thanks & Good Luck,
To The REAL King!!
-----------------------
Freedom has nothing to fear from the truth!
http://www.legal-rights.org/images/bllrbanner.gif
Now open with lots of useful resources at your disposal AT:
http://www.legal-rights.org
------------------
__________________
"We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force."
--Ayn Rand, in "The Nature of Government
[Edited by To The Real King!! on August 8th, 2000 at 02:03 PM]
The EUROCARD STING!!! http://www.legal-rights.org/images/enemy.jpg
Hi Everyone,
This info about an ongoing "STING" operation by the US Government will explain why many people THINK that DTV are turning off subscriber cards. They KNOW the CAM ID's of those cards and may even have DONE BUSINESS with smaller dealers. THAT is why these cards went down.
Read this article and bear in MIND that the US Government CANNOT operate in countries other than the United States. Stealing a SIGNAL IS illegal in the USA and people should be AWARE of that. It also points out that this is an ONGOING investigation.
This article may serve to open the EYES of many people and make you aware that YOU may be under investigation.
At http://www.msnbc.com/news/443264.asp?0nm=-21A
Satellite cheaters caught in Web sting
Customs went online to nab users of stolen access cards
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 — Federal authorities on Tuesday disclosed a 22-month undercover sting operation in which government agents sold thousands of counterfeit cards that allowed users to steal satellite TV signals. Dubbed "Operation Smartcard.net," the sting went after people who bought counterfeit access cards providing DirecTV programming at no cost.
THE INVESTIGATION, still under way, has resulted in charges against five individuals, officials at the Justice Department and U.S. Customs Service said. They said another five have pleaded guilty to charges of violating intellectual property rights protections.
"Buying and selling counterfeit products and services like satellite television access cost legitimate businesses and ultimately the consumer millions of dollars each year," Attorney General Janet Reno said in a statement announcing the sting operation.
Officials said the investigation began in Blaine, Wash., in September 1998 after Customs officials noted a dramatic increase in seizures of pirated or counterfeit satellite access cards being smuggled into the United States from Canada.
The smart cards are used by satellite services such as DirecTV to select the television channels that can be received by an individual satellite dish at a customer’s home.
However, authorities said there is a large underground market for counterfeit cards, at a black-market price of $325 to $425.
To track down such users, undercover agents sold counterfeit access cards they called "Eurocards" through an Internet business created by Customs agents.
By the time the Customs Service terminated the undercover portion of the operation in June 1999, agents had sold 3,195 illegal cards to dealers and 382 cards to individuals, generating more than $516,000, which was turned over to the U.S. Treasury, officials said.
In July 1999, DirecTV used electronic countermeasures to shut down all of the pirated cards sold through the government’s Web site.
Customs Commissioner Raymond Kelly said those purchasing the cards "thought they got away without paying for satellite TV. Instead, these cyber-pirates will pay in a way they hadn’t considered."
Officials estimate that use of the illegal cards costs the satellite TV industry $6.2 million annually in lost revenue.
Reno said the investigation into cases uncovered by the sting operation was continuing and further cases could be prosecuted.
According to a joint release from the Justice Department and the Customs Service, the four who have pleaded guilty in the case are Michael Poulsen, Mountain View, Calif.; Mohammad Walid, Yorktown Heights, N.Y.; Linda Bauer, Hastings, Minn.; and Brian Angell, Warwick, R.I.
The agencies said felony charges have been filed against Dale Luster, Dallas; Kevin Greehey, Sarasota, Fla.; Tony Zielenski, Dallas; Larry Thompson, Shingle Springs, Calif.; Richard McCarty, Benzonia, Mich.; Ray Frost, Syracuse, Ind.; and Steve Ashline of St. Albans, Vt.
In all of the cases, those charged allegedly purchased and resold pirated or counterfeit access cards. Justice officials said it is a felony to distribute such electronic cards with the knowledge that the cards can be used without authorization to decode scrambled satellite television signals.
Violations of this federal statute carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
© 2000 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
I would imagine that this information could be USEFUL to those being investigated and serve as a warning to those who were not aware of this.
P.S. Did anyone NOTICE that this is only $144.00 per card and NOT the $325 + quoted. I guess there are some wealthy agents now and this was released to take the HEAT off of the “AGENTS“ DOUBLE AGENT SCAM for their benefit
Hope it helps.
CRAZY!!! http://www.legal-rights.org/images/seizures.jpg
http://www.legal-rights.org/images/niceday.gif
Thanks & Good Luck,
To The REAL King!!
-----------------------
Freedom has nothing to fear from the truth!
http://www.legal-rights.org/images/bllrbanner.gif
Now open with lots of useful resources at your disposal AT:
http://www.legal-rights.org
------------------
__________________
"We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force."
--Ayn Rand, in "The Nature of Government
[Edited by To The Real King!! on August 8th, 2000 at 02:03 PM]