Video Pirates!

In the 80s, it was a little be easier (but pricey) to hack into the airwaves and while there were several reports of "video pirates," but the two most infamous pirates were Captain Midnight and the Max Headroom pirate of Chicago. Captain Midnight famously broke into the HBO signal and posted the above message during a telecast of The Falcon and the Snowman. Captain Midnight was caught and fined by the FCC and now sells satellite equipment in Florida, you can buy something from him. The Max Headroom of Chicago was never caught, he tapped into a newscast on the Chicago CBS station and then later in the night over took a broadcast of Doctor Who for around 90 seconds. When I first hear about these incidents when they happened, I remember being really creeped out and also amazed by the fact that someone could take over the airwaves and interrupt programming, of course, I would be really impressed if someone did it today on a national scale.

And now, Dan Rather tells you more...



And the actual take over...