To my knowledge the way that Comcast provisions the modem is with the MAC address of. Hooked to and it will issue an IP address to the MAC of the new device it is hooked into. »Comcast High Speed Internet FAQ. These 'copyright infringement' e-mails are annoying [TekSavvy] by Free WiFi; 265.
In the first case of its kind, a Pennsylvania man faces federal criminal charges for allegedly selling hacked cable modems capable of stealing free, anonymous internet service from broadband providers. Thomas Swingler was charged Thursday in federal court in New York with trafficking in unlawful access devices for his online business.
The site, still in operation, sells 'pre-modded' Motorola Surfboard modems for between $38 and $58 that can be customized by the owner without a cable company's knowledge. Among other things, the user can set their own upload and download rates, and change the MAC address — the unique identifier normally hard-coded into a modem. 'If you decide to use one of these modems to get free internet, then you're committing theft of service and we will take no responsibility for what may happen to you if you're caught,' the site cautions in its FAQ. The prosecution treads on a gray area largely avoided by federal law enforcement until now. Modified modems and detailed hacking tutorials have long been available over the internet, with much of the hacking aimed at 'uncapping' modems to get higher speeds than offered by providers.
The hacking is effective because, unlike old-fashioned telephone service, in which the phone company exerts independent control of every line, cable modem systems hang an entire neighborhood off a common backbone in the field. To bill customers and set individual bandwidth limits, they rely on their ability to track and control the modems attached to their network.
Using a cloned or fictitious MAC address could not only provide free broadband, it would frustrate law enforcement efforts to track down an internet user committing other crimes online. 'You could do mad fraud off it,' Swingler allegedly explained in another chat session.
Swingler declined to comment for this story. It's not clear how many modems Swingler has sold, but the online forum attached to his site boasts over 4,000 users, and the FBI's review of Swingler's PayPal account showed 'numerous sales of modems to individuals around the world.'
In July, FBI agent Milan Patel (.pdf) from Swingler and sent it to Motorola for analysis. The company verified for the FBI that the device had been hacked to allow users to change their MAC address. Because the hacked modems have legitimate uses, Swingler's statements to the informant could make all the difference in the case, says Mark Rasch, a former Justice Department cybercrime prosecutor.
'I think the law is pretty clear that if you can convincingly say that you didn't know it was going to be used illegally, you shouldn't be prosecuted,' says Rasch. 'I don't think that argument will fly here.' The author of, who goes by the name DerEngel, says he's familiar with cablehack.net.
Last year the site licensed DerEngel's custom cable-modem firmware, called Sigma, for a flat $150 fee. 'They used to just steal it,' he says. Like cablehack.net, sells pre-modded modems loaded with Sigma, which allows users to reconfigure the modem through a built-in web interface.
Among other things, the custom interface lets users to change their MAC address. But DerEngel says he doesn't support fraud, and that MAC address tinkering has legitimate uses, and is just one step in the complicated process that allows a modem to get free, untraceable internet. I have customers all the time asking me, 'Can I use this modem and cancel my sub account' I simply state NO. It is NOT intended for that purpose. These modems are 100% legal to sell, it is a stock Motorola diagnostic shelled firmware. This is why they are allowed to be sold on eBay, because we as modders are doing NOTHING illegal if we are just simply upgrading the firmware to shell access. You have 7 business days to remove this report / story from your blog.
If you fail to do so, I will press charges to the full extent. See Also:.