Captain Midnight
lorehackingops culture
The 1986 HBO satellite hijacking by a Florida uplink engineer protesting a $12.95 monthly fee.
On April 27, 1986, John R. MacDougall, alone on shift at a Florida uplink station, swung its dish onto HBO's satellite and overrode the movie with 'GOODEVENING HBO FROM CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT. $12.95/MONTH? NO WAY!' for four and a half minutes; HBO's engineers dueled him up to 2000 watts and yielded rather than risk the satellite. He was caught after a tourist overheard him bragging at a payphone, paid a 5,000 dollar fine, and Congress made satellite hijacking a felony, legislation ready just in time for the Max Headroom incident the following year. One angry dish salesman versus a broadcast empire, and the uplink won.