4 Episodes of Friends, Downloaded for $22,000

Machines connecting to wireless networks and costing their owners tons of money aren’t breaking news, as a matter of fact they’re old history. Except for the fact that it is a continuous nuisance, the fact could go unnoticed by anybody else, except for those paying the bills. But, when the bottom figure shows close to $22,000, it’s something to voice over.

The Telegraph tells the story of a couple being faced with this very problem. The wife, who wanted to remain anonymous, just like her husband, queued for download four episodes of the popular U.S. sitcom Friends, and when her hubby left the country, laptop in bag, the drama began. Upon arriving in Germany, his destination, the machine connected to a local provider and continued the interrupted download, but on international data roaming rates, this time.

The fraud detection technique is rudimentary and the whole ordeal was only stopped when the bill hit the astronomical figure. The scheme works like this: a fax is being sent from the roamed to the operator and from there, another fax is sent to the home operator, asking to look into the matter. Needless to say that the two had absolutely no idea about what had happened with the downloads. According to The Register, Channel 4’s 4OD service was used, and it has the particularity that runs in the background. If you don’t know it’s there, you can’t tell something’s happening.

Despite being very unfortunate for the couple, this comes at a perfect time for the European Union and Commissioner Reding, as they have long fought the battle for cutting down international roaming fees, with the deadline of it happening on the 1st of July.

Other similar example of machines connecting to the Internet is the iPhone, which has the nasty habit of checking mail automatically. Mind you, be careful if you own one.

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