I just thought this was dumb.
By VICKIE CHACHERE, Associated Press Staff Writer
TAMPA, Fla. - A man who admitted scheming to steal satellite television signals has been ordered to pay $180 million in restitution in $500-a-month installments ? a payment plan that would take 30,000 years to fulfill.
Steven Frazier, 28, pleaded guilty to conspiracy in a scheme to manufacture and sell devices to decode satellite TV signals and allow people to get premium service for free. He also received a five-year prison sentence.
The scheme was thwarted when federal agents arrested Frazier last fall.* A federal judge ordered restitution Wednesday based on a formula of how much Frazier's intended victims, DirecTV and EchoStar, would have lost had the scheme succeeded.
I'm sorry but this is like getting a murder sentence when the person never died.
Yes the guy did wrong, but lets follow the law. At this rate, Wal-Mart will charge you with shoplifting before you leave the store.
Source
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030628/ap_on_re_us/satellite_pirate_6