When Brandon Wirtz and several other Buckeye Cable customers decided to uncap their modems, they assumed the worst that could happen was that they'd be disconnected. As we reported last November, they were wrong. Wirtz was greeted at his home by FBI agents, had most of his electronics confiscated, and faces hundreds of thousands in fines, legal fees, and lost revenue. Wirtz updates us on his case's progress, and gives his thoughts on his adventures through the Ohio legal system.

BBR: Can you perhaps introduce yourself and offer some insight into the kind of projects you were working on before your run-in with Buckeye?

To introduce my self I am a 23 year old entrepreneur. I work primarily with companies that produce streaming media for the internet. I specialize in solutions for tracking and securing content. My recent projects include the MS Xbox Campaign in the UK, EA Sports FIFA/World Cup campaign, Levis Rub, and others both domestic and in Europe. In addition to these viral marketing campaigns I also publish books on implementing Windows Media, QuickTime, and DivX in to distance learning, presentations, and other video solutions.

BBR: You uncapped your modem how exactly, and for how long?

Let me start by saying that there is no doubt in anyone's mind among those of use who were accused were uncapping. We all were. Uncapping in and of itself is not illegal, and in most cases is not even a violation of the TOS.

Ok, on to how. This is the quick and dirty, not a how to: Buckeye was using the cable config files that CISCO provides as a docsis reference. So there was no need to defeat any security. I just went out to (Cisco's website) used the TFTP software I use to configure routers and pushed up gold.cm to my cable modem.

Was I hesitant to do so? No. Why? My cable contract doesn't say I can't do that. And that I have unlimited, unmetered access and that if Buckeye has the right to terminate my contract or renegotiate if I my use exceeded acceptable limits. So I figured that since I was only getting 64k down 8k up that the worst that could happen is that I'd end up back on a modem until my wireless was installed.

Even then, because My cable modem was always losing sync, the uncap would only last an hour or so. So we uncapped on I think 4 occasions for 2 or three hours when I needed to download something 50 megs or so. The rest of the time data gets shipped via Hard Disk and FedEX (20 gigs moves faster FedEX than Cable).

BBR: Would you mind giving a brief synopsis in your words of what exactly
happened the evening you found plainclothes FBI agents on your doorstep?

It was more of the afternoon, but...oddly there was only one officer who was FBI. And probably 10 Sylvania police.

Door bell rings.

ME: Can I help you?

Plain clothes Female Officer: May we Come in?

Me: No

Female officer and Male Officer Step in.

Female: Are you Brandon (murders my last name)

ME: Yes, but you need to stay outside.

Female: Is there something odd about your cable?

Me: Yeah I get like 5 watchable stations and only when the construction workers aren't here.

Female: Don't be smart with us. Is there something odd about your Cable Modem?

Me: Not that I'm aware of. (half truth)

Female: Is your cable modem uncapped?

Me: Does that work?

Female: that is twice you have been smart,

Guy in a blue jumper walks into the house.

Me: you are all going to have to leave.

Female: We are going to take a look at your computer

Me:No you aren't.

Female: Here is a warrant to search the premisis

Me: Well you can search my room and the commons with this but It doesn't cover my roommates portions.

Female: yes it does.

10 police officers then wandered through our 2000 square foot condo for the next 3 hours. I was told that I couldn't make any calls even to my lawyer. And that I was to stay in the living room and seated. A client who was approaching the house was turned away and told that unless they lived here they would have to leave. She then asked if everything was ok and was told that I was being "busted for hacking".

One of my room mates got home 10 minutes before the police left, just in time to get asked if she knew I was uncapping. She said no, yet was told that if she didn't sign the document she was handed she'd never get her computer back. The document said that the Sylvania police would be given authority to search her computer for fraud related files.

The police left with 8 computers, a VCR, 4 monitors, 6 keyboards, 7 mice, 24 copies of my book on CD ROM, the Cable modem, a linksys Cable modem Router, an ATMEL Smart Card Writer, 4 Smart Cards, 3 DVD+RW Discs and some Misc. Cords. 2 legitimate copies of Windows XP, and 1 Visual Studio Enterprise.

BBR: In our originally published story, some balked at the dollar figures you put forth as losses after you'd run the gauntlet. Can you perhaps elaborate on what was taken, the client deals that fell through, and how this impacted your life?

Right off the bat you have the value of my computers. While 2 of them were 386's and 1 was a pentium 133, the other 5 were highend machines (about $2000 a piece with one valued at $2900). Next you have all the software I own legally. Visual Studio is $2400 in and of itself.

Next you have all the work I had done for clients that had not yet been delievered, so I had to both refund retainers and couldn't do additional work for those clients. I refunded $10k in retainers, failed to deliver a project that was quoted at $22k for the following week, and the product I was planning to release on to the market about 6 weeks from this happening was pulled.

To give a rough idea of what a content management solution with integrated DRM is worth. I had logged 1500 hours in to its development, spent time talking with internet radio stations, joined every windows media group you could find, and made the contact at MS and in Hollywood to make sure that I my product was better than anything out there and that I had a market that would know me and believe me. A typical Streaming Media Host would pay $15-45k for the software I developed (varying on the number of users and such), and I had 15 pre-orders.

So
$11,000 for equipment
$10,000 in returned retainers
$3,000 in software

That is $24k in tangibles,
And $225-400k in software revenue

BBR: Buckeye estimates their losses from the uncapping at well over a quarter million dollars. Have they been able to support this claim mathematically?

No. They have been unwilling to disclose the method used to come up with this number. But my share was supposedly between $15k and $30k That would be the same price as 30-60 cable modems for one year. And I only uncapped for 5 weeks.

BBR: What has the legal outcome been to your struggles, you've indicated the court has reached a settlement? Will confiscated equipment be returned?

We are negotiating for the equipment. Only because it was said that I'll either get a computer back or I won't, and that any data on the drives will only be returned if the computer is. My losses in business could have been $0 if I could have had my data back even the following week.

I'm paying $3200 in Restitution, and $300 for a class on how what I did was wrong. Then I have to do 40 hours of community service in the 90 days after this is all finalized.

January 15th I think this should all be done.

BBR: Do you have any information on what happened to the others who were indicted?

I know a Minor who settled for almost $30k. One who is getting off mostly scott free. And George (Runner, area attorney who faces the same charges), they are out for blood on him.

BBR: Many people who read the original Toledo Blade story are struck by the coincidence that lawyer George Runner, who had previously played a part in the dismissal of a village police chief and was disliked by Buckeye ownership, was one of those targeted. Is this an angle Mr. Runner's attorney is looking at?

I don't think I can comment on Jerome Phillips angle. I know they are fighting bucke-eye and could use an expert witness from an ISP to testify that the $250k is absurd, and while they haven't said his portion I'd expect they think he used even more than my 15-30k.

BBR: Did you contact any consumer rights groups about your situation? Were they of any use to you?

EFF.org was very helpful. Better Business essentially said that if it was in court they couldn't help. The local Cable board was no help. The FCC told me they didn't regulate internet (I tried to convince them that they had just released that Cablemodems were and information service and that they did regulate them, and the person I spoke with got angry and said that I was not to contact them again on this matter).

BBR: You've wisely migrated to wireless, how is that working?

I love it. ComWavz is the best ISP I have had in a long while. They only support their service until like 10pm, but other than that it is great. I was getting 2.5 meg symmetric before it started to snow, and now I get 1.3.

BBR: What's next on you agenda? If you can speak on it, do you intend any counter-action?

First, get on with life. I have hired on a programmer to help me recreate the lost data. (Those saying you should have backed it up, well I did between computers. I figured unless the place burned to the ground I was safe.) We will ship our product as soon as .Net 2003 is final, and beyond that, well I'll wait to comment.