Taxpayers fund copy protection damage control
A US federal investigation has led to charges against 17 people for producing devices that decrypt satellite television broadcasts. The devices are allegedly responsible for $15 million in losses to TV broadcasters; the article doesn't cite the cost of the taxpayer-funded mission to protect DirecTV's business model.
Authorities said they focused their investigation, dubbed Operation Decrypt, at high-level hackers and manufacturers by infiltrating secret online chat rooms where hackers developed technology to steal satellite programming. The technology was sold to users, often over the Internet. Those charged include software writers and manufacturers who developed programs and equipment to crack the scrambled signals designed to limit satellite TV services to paying customers. Among the devices being manipulated by the hackers were "smart cards," typically used by companies such as DISH and DirecTV. [...] Six of the defendants are charged with violating the criminal antidecryption provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. It is only the second time in the nation a grand jury has issued an indictment under the statute. - NY Times, 17 Charged in Satellite TV Case.