Hardware Hacker Charged With Selling Cable Modems That Get Free Broadband — Update
Wired writes: "In the first case of its kind, a Pennsylvania man faces federal criminal charges for allegedly selling hacked cable modems capable of stealing free, anonymous internet service from broadband providers.
Thomas Swingler was charged Thursday in federal court in New York with trafficking in unlawful access devices for his online business cablehack.net. The site, still in operation, sells "pre-modded" Motorola Surfboard modems for between $38 and $58 that can be customized by the owner without a cable company’s knowledge. Among other things, the user can set their own upload and download rates, and change the MAC address – the unique identifier normally hard-coded into a modem. "
