If you buy yourself a SmartCard writer — say, to monkey around with as an authentication system for the hospital you work at — beware. DirectTV is using legal threats to force SmartCard vendors out of business (because SmartCards can be used to pirate sat signals), and getting their customer lists, and extorting thousands of dollars from everyone who's ever bought one of these devices at lawyerpoint.
…Sosa received a letter from satellite TV giant DirecTV. The company accused him of purchasing piracy equipment, and, by extension, stealing DirecTV's signal. When he called the company to clear things up, he found they weren't interested in his explanations: they wanted $3,500 and the smart card programmer, or they would literally make a federal case out of it and sue him under anti-piracy laws. "I didn't know what to do, I was completely flabbergasted. So I sent the money in," says Sosa. "I have a livelihood, and I have a family, and there are a lot of things that I`d rather be than right…"
If the recipient calls the phone number on the letter, they're given a settlement offer — usually the same $3,500 that Sosa paid. If they don't pay up, or if they ignore the letter entirely, another letter arrives in the mail as a reminder that settling with the company is the only way to resolve the matter "without either of us incurring significant legal costs." If the recipient still doesn't play ball, the company makes good on its threat and files a lawsuit. At that point, the settlement price tag jumps to $10,000 — still less than the typical cost of paying a lawyer to go to trial against a corporate powerhouse in federal court.
