Actually, when I read it the first thing I thought was hedge fund or oil traders.
You wouldn't believe the lengths I've seen people go to down here in Houston to get a leg up in the information war. Literally hundreds of millions daily could turn on something as seemingly innocuous as learning the amount of water being pumped into this well or the other. Freighters, fly by infra red photography (spy planes). Even satellite imagery. This hack seems pretty small potatoes, cost-wise, and would give you a big punch as far as trading edges go.
You wouldn't believe the lengths I've seen people go to down here in Houston to get a leg up in the information war. Literally hundreds of millions daily could turn on something as seemingly innocuous as learning the amount of water being pumped into this well or the other. Freighters, fly by infra red photography (spy planes). Even satellite imagery. This hack seems pretty small potatoes, cost-wise, and would give you a big punch as far as trading edges go.