[patio11]

If you can triangulate them then the solution seems fairly simple: automate the triangulation, and have a pre-recorded voice respond to transmissions randomly with a stern command in Portuguese: This is the United States Navy. You are transmitting on a restricted channel. Your location is blah. Cease communication via this channel immediately or we will take appropriate measures to protect our national security.

I think it would be more effective if you made the monitor random than if you made it deterministic and perfectly effective. If every transmission got the reprimand, it would sound like a joke. If it happens infrequently enough then the users will react like OH MY GOD THE FLOORBOARD IS CREAKING HOLY "#$"& THERE ARE MARINES OUTSIDE MY WINDOW. (Google "panopticon". Yay, I actually learned something in literary criticism!)

Incidentally: even if you can't triangulate them accurately, I'm going to bet that an illiterate truck driver told he was broadcasting from 38.89767 N, 77.03655 E would believe you. Even though he is most probably not attempting satellite piracy from the Oval Office.

[sdurkin]

Brilliant strategy. I remember a few years back a port scan of NSA.gov would give a stern "THIS COMPUTER SYSTEM IS PROPERTY OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS WILL BE PROSECUTED."

As a twelve-year-old messing with netcat for the first time, it terrified the s!&t out of me.

[josefresco]

Unfortunately Brazilians are not scared 12 year olds, and would probably not be so concerned with a pre-recorded warning that has little chance of actually effecting them (who's going to track down some random logger talking soccer with a buddy?)

[pavel_lishin]

Anatel and the Navy, according to the article.

[rbanffy]

They should fear Anatel. The US Navy has no authority here.

[sdurkin]

There's nothing special about Brazilians that makes them fear government authority any less.

[ovi256]

If you do triangulate them accurately and give them their location, they would just start using you as a locator service! Free GPS! Which would incite even more usage.

They'll need to learn to read a map and place latitude and longitude on it, but that's pretty easy.

[nandemo]

The PDF linked in the article claims that Fernandinho Beira-Mar, then the biggest drug boss in Brazil, was arrested after his location was found using triangulation.

[in Portuguese]

http://www.py2adn.com/artigos/Satelite-Bolinha.pdf

[translation below]

http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=en&...

But don't expect Brazilian police to bother looking for random truck drivers (unless they can bribe them).