Consumer Safety & Awareness Part 22

Theft of Services -- Part 1

Traditional Service Theft

Traditionally, “theft of service” meant obtaining a utility without paying for it. Thus if you illegally wired your television into a cable company, tampered with your electric or gas meter, or used a slug in a pay phone, you were subject to both civil and criminal charges. Today, with the Internet and other technology, the term can be expanded.

ComCast, which provides television, telephone, and Internet services, warns users, “Any unauthorized person who intercepts or receives communications provided over a cable system may be penalized under the Cable Communication Policy Act of 1984 [47 C.F.R. 553(c)]. This includes the theft of audio, video, textual data, and any other service. The law applies to manufacturers and distributors of equipment as well as to individuals. Parties found guilty of cable theft are subject to both civil and criminal penalties, which may include substantial fines and/or time in prison.”

Time Warner Cable explains it this way, “Theft of cable services is the reception of any services offered over a cable system without paying for the system. Cable theft is a widespread problem that results in revenue losses to the cable industry totaling several billions of dollars per year. By depriving cable operators of substantial revenue, people who steal cable adversely affect cable companies' ability to provide their customers with high quality products and services.”

New York State Law, as an example, specifically says that, in cases of tampering with gas meters for the purpose of reducing or escaping charges the culprit’s liability, “shall include, but not be limited to, the cost of investigating, repairing and replacing meters and pipes, and the cost of moving a meter and installing it in a secure location.”

Central Hudson Gas & Electric reports, “Our field representatives undergo regular training to recognize and report theft of service, and are active in seeking suspected cases during their daily tasks. Lost or unrecovered revenue can raise the cost of service to the vast majority of honest customers who legally receive and pay for their service.” During 2006, Central Hudson has recovered $160,000 from individuals attempting to steal electricity and natural gas through overt or fraudulent means.”

During the last three years people have been arrested and prosecuted for many types of such actions. Here are a few examples:

a) In Texas, a man illegally connected his mobile home to municipal water. He was fined $10,000.
b) In Florida, a person sitting in a car outside a private house was arrested for tapping into and using the homeowner’s WiFi connection.
c) In the state of Washington, a man parked his van outside a coffee shop to use their WiFi. After several warnings he, too was arrested under the theft of service laws.
d) In October, 2007, the first federal case involving downloading music by Internet without paying for it resulted in a $222,000 fine for a woman in Minnesota. There have been hundreds of civil cases won against people who download music without paying for it.
e) In Europe, people who violate intellectual property laws by Internet downloading can be fined, jailed, or both. It is not unusual for the conviction to include forfeiture of the computer involved and all peripherals.
f) In Japan a man who ran an extension cord from a neighbor’s house to power a rice steamer was arrested
g) In Guyana, South America, over 100 people were arrested in one week for theft of electricity.
h) The Baltimore Sun reports a 32-year-old man was, “arrested and accused of using electricity from a neighbor's house to power his computer. He was powering his computer through an electrical cord plugged into his neighbor's exterior outlet, police said. He was charged with fourth-degree burglary, theft of electrical service and trespassing.”
i) In India, seven people were arrested for tapping into other people’s telephone lines to call friends and relatives living in the United States,


To attack the growing problem of cable service theft, the District of Colombia enacted this law: “No person shall:
a) Obtain, intercept or receive, or attempt to obtain, intercept or receive cable television services from a cable television company by device, converter, decoder, trick, artifice, deception or other means with the intent or purpose to deprive such company of an or all lawful compensation for rendering each type of service obtained;
b) Assist or instruct any other person or persons in obtaining, intercepting or receiving, or attempting to obtain, intercept or receive any cable television service, by any means whatsoever, without payment of all lawful compensation to the cable television company for rendering each type of service obtained;
c) Make or maintain a connection or connections, whether physical, electrical, mechanical, acoustical or by other means, tamper with or otherwise interfere with any cables, wires, components, modems, lock boxes, pedestals, or other devices or equipment of the cable television company used for the distribution of cable television service, with the intent or purpose to deprive such company of any or all lawful compensation, and without express authority from the cable television company;
d) Make or maintain any modification or alteration to any device, equipment or apparatus or remove, disconnect or sell any device, equipment or apparatus installed by the cable television company without the authorization of a cable television company for the purpose of intercepting, descrambling, decoding or receiving any program or other service carried by such company which such person is not authorized by such company to receive, or for the purpose of selling any such device, equipment, or apparatus; or
e) Make, manufacture, import into the District of Columbia, assemble, transfer, distribute, promote, sell, lease, lend, offer, own, possess, or possess for sale, advertise or publish for sale or lease any device, equipment or apparatus, or any instructions, information, plan or kit for such device, equipment or apparatus, or for a printed circuit designed in whole or in part to intercept, decode, descramble or otherwise make intelligible any encoded, encrypted, scrambled or other nonstandard signal distributed by a cable television company.”

Other states have similar laws. Although they are hard to detect, service companies have been fighting back by installing devices that detect usage surges and that can monitor the number of televisions or computers attached through individual houses and apartments. The companies are keeping their detection methods confidential so that they can maintain an edge over those who wish to overcome such safeguards.