Cox aims to blast cable thieves

Cox Communications today said it hired a new sheriff to coral cable service thieves in Northern Virginia.  The cable company hired Secure Signals International, a firm that specializes in cable and satellite piracy issues. SSI will launch a program to find people who are pirating basic cable signals or who are using illegal cable boxes to watch premium channels such as HBO and Showtime.  For its part SSI said will go after anyone who has bought cable boxes, filters or other unauthorized devices and says the names of many who have were obtained by federal law enforcement officials during raids on facilities that make them.  On its Web site SSI says it has collected in excess of $300 million from piracy matters and recovered over 500,000 illegal devices and notes that its average settlement is $4,000 per case. It lists Time-Warner and Comcast among its customers. “Cable theft may not be a violent crime, but it’s a crime that impacts us all,” said Janet Barnard, vice president and region manager for Cox Northern Virginia. “Cable theft cost the industry nearly $5 billion in 2005, so we believe our new partnership with Secure Signal International will help address this serious issue.”Cox will offer a 30-day grace period whereby consumers not yet under investigation can turn in their illegal equipment to Cox. The grace period runs between May 14, 2007 and ends on June 15, 2007. Federal law allows SSI to seek fines up to $10,000 for each offense, plus court costs. Cox has used SSI in other states including Arizona.