Man Convicted of selling fake Virgin Media equipment

[Digital TV News]

Virgin Media received a boost to its campaign to stamp out the sale of illegally modified set-top boxes, when a Birmingham man, Mohammed Ali, was jailed for five and a half years last week. Three other men also received lesser sentences for their involvement in the sale of the illegal equipment. Virgin Media has nearly [...]

More: Man Convicted of selling fake Virgin Media equipment

[PerryCox]

Crikey! 5 and a half years, hope he made enough money at it to make it worthwhile!

[TheCoder]

"Fake" Virgin Media equipment ????

Is someone selling SV/KV boxes with a VM logo stuck on them ?

Seems a bit of a strange title for what was undoubtably either non VM approved equipment or modified VM equipment rather than "fake" equipment.

Still, these articles are written by clueless members of the press who see story verification as impinging on their valuable boozing time !

Perhaps somebody should drop this particular reporter a hint of cardsharing so she can correct her story somewhat


btw, where do these stories actually come from ?

Techwatch never seems to link to the actual sources

[PerryCox]

According to Virgin Media set-top box modder gets 5 years ? The Register
"The group were arrested in 2008, when 2,000 illegally modified set-top boxes were found during police raids in the Sparkbrook area of Birmingham. Large quantites of cash and two vehicles were also seized."

Not a small operation then. Still, I can't see the recompense being enough to justify risking 5 years. Unless you're setting your cards to "go off" monthly...

[Robbo]

Originally Posted by TheCoder

Still, these articles are written by clueless members of the press who see story verification as impinging on their valuable boozing time !

Well, if you think that you can do a better job of it, why don't you?


Looking for news writers and bloggers

(If the offer is still open of course)

[lincsat]

Wasn't that the guy that was also involved with drugs? Sounds like the same story that was posted a while ago. With 2000 "illegally modified set top boxes", sounds like a lot of stolen property.

[brian]

Originally Posted by TheCoder

btw, where do these stories actually come from ?

Techwatch never seems to link to the actual sources

Most tech news comes from press releases, no investigative journalism, so most everything tech news you read is just the same press release rewritten from different angles. The TW writers do from their own.

Obviously it would be nice to have more specialist writers covering the news section, ie, with a strong understanding of satellite boxes and cable.

Unfortunately, those people are very hard to find, so the ones used try their best, but won't always understand the nuances involved.

As Robbo points out, always looking for new writers to take the slack.

[TheCoder]

Originally Posted by brian

Most tech news comes from press releases, no investigative journalism, so most everything tech news you read is just the same press release rewritten from different angles. The TW writers do from their own.

Obviously it would be nice to have more specialist writers covering the news section, ie, with a strong understanding of satellite boxes and cable.

Unfortunately, those people are very hard to find, so the ones used try their best, but won't always understand the nuances involved.

As Robbo points out, always looking for new writers to take the slack.

This particular one purports to of been written by by Janet Harris

Is that the original author of the press release or some non-de-plume of a techatch member who's reworking a press release ?

I'm still intrigued as to where this stuff comes from and who initially writes it. Links to the initial press releases or authors would be nice because sometimes the articles look to of been truncated and i'd quite like to read the whole thing. Other times the articles are just plain wrong and I wouldn't mind telling the author why he/she has written absolute crap.

[Robbo]

Originally Posted by TheCoder

Links to the initial press releases or authors would be nice because sometimes the articles look to of been truncated and i'd quite like to read the whole thing.

I agree with that assessment, often you want to know more as the reports are often lacking in detail.

[brian]

Janet Harris used to work for a press release writing agency, and she'll be using multiple sources for any particular story she's covering. I can ask her to try and provide more detailed coverage in future.

Darren Allen writes more involved blog-like posts, usually with a streak of humour where possible, and I think these probably work better for the site.

It is pretty hard to get a balance with news at the moment - advertising revenues are down quite a lot since the recession hit, so it's hard to find writers who are affordable, reliable, and knowledgeable.

The company I run is still a home office business, and the writers are freelancers who work from home as well - no movie-style big media office and The Times-style payrolls here.

However, I take the criticism as constructive - I am on the look out for further news writers for the news section, specifically someone who can write intelligently about any digital TV issues - I'll make more of an effort to try and get someone else in.