Pirating DIRECTV Signals Violates DMCA
Posted January 1, 2006 08:17 PM
DirecTV v. Borow (03-cv-2581)(2005): Judge Norgle of the Northern District of Illinois has ruled that DMCA rights of DirecTV have been violated where defendant pirated signal to access copyrighted works owned by third parties.
related: DirecTV Loses Weapon in Piracy Fight
In a setback to DirecTV's fight against satellite piracy, a federal appeals panel on Tuesday ruled that the company cannot sue people under a wiretapping law just because they possess cards allowing them to intercept its signal. The 11th Circuit said that DirecTV must be able to show that the alleged pirate actually used the device. It's the first federal appellate decision on the issue, and thus is controlling law nationally for the time being.see DIRECT TV INC. v. TREWORGY, (11th Cir. 2004) (18 U.S.C. section 2520(a) does not create a private cause of action against a defendant found in illegal possession of equipment used to intercept satellite transmissions in violation of the criminal statute). [6/16/2004]