“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers”
June 30th, 2003
Steven Frazier planned to build and sell decoders allowing people to access premium satellite TV channels they hadn’t paid for. Then the FBI caught him red-handed, before he could start supplying the 5,000 customers he’d lined up with their decoders.
As you’d expect, Frazier ended up in court. You’d probably not be utterly amazed to hear that, having been found guilty, Frazier was handed a five year jail sentence. What you might not expect is that Frazier was also ordered to pay restitution in the sum of US$180 million. Yes, that’s right: One Hundred And Eighty Million Dollars!
I do hope a similar formula will be applied when the various Enron and Worldcom senior executives end up being sentenced.
[Via Techdirt]