cojones
09-13-2003, 08:43 PM
Piracy lawsuits come to Pasco
DADE CITY - As part of a nationwide effort, satellite television giant DirecTV this week dished out lawsuits accusing four Pasco County residents of stealing programming with mail-order equipment.
The suit is one of thousands the California-based television service has been filing across the country, targeting users of pirated equipment rather than just the suppliers.
The Pasco suits were filed in Pasco-Pinellas Circuit Court by Orlando attorney Jill Hampton. The suits name Jay Swan of Hazelwood Drive, Zephyrhills; Michael Mullenax of Sutters Mill Road, New Port Richey; Jim DeGrace of Foley Square, New Port Richey; and Millard Bryan, listing both a hometown of Holiday, but also an address of Ridge Road in Port Richey.
DirecTV in recent months has gotten tough with people it says pull in the company's satellite signal and unscramble it without paying. Thousands of warning letters have been mailed and more than 8,000 lawsuits filed against users of pirate equipment.
Hundreds of suits have been filed in Tampa's federal courthouse.
Defense attorneys involved in similar suits claim DirecTV is using scare tactics and doesn't have the evidence to prosecute each case.
Fort Lauderdale attorney Jonathan Yellin told the St. Petersburg Times earlier this summer DirecTV is not looking at the cases individually. In some cases, there are explanations, he said.
In Thursday's suits, the first four filed in Circuit Court in Pasco County, the company says it has spent more than $1.25-billion developing its system, including satellites orbiting at 22,000 feet above the earth. But it has also been forced to spend money developing countermeasures to defeat pirates who use counterfeit access cards that fit into receiver boxes and unscramble the company's signal.
"DirecTV's need to develop increasingly sophisticated security measures is driven by the actions of satellite television "pirates,' " the suit states.
In May 2001, according to the suit, the company obtained seizure warrants and raided companies selling pirate access cards and equipment by mail. That's where DirecTV obtained the names of people who had bought access equipment, according to the company.
According to DirecTV, all four Pasco County targets bought their equipment in the fall of 2000.
Bryan declined comment when by reached by telephone Friday; the other three people named in the suits could not be contacted. DirecTV attorney Hampton did not return calls for comment Friday.
According to the suits, DirecTV is seeking $10,000 for each unscrambling device purchased plus attorney fees and $850 in court costs.
By CHASE SQUIRES, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published September 13, 2003
Source: http://www.sptimes.com/2003/09/13/P...its_come_.shtml
DADE CITY - As part of a nationwide effort, satellite television giant DirecTV this week dished out lawsuits accusing four Pasco County residents of stealing programming with mail-order equipment.
The suit is one of thousands the California-based television service has been filing across the country, targeting users of pirated equipment rather than just the suppliers.
The Pasco suits were filed in Pasco-Pinellas Circuit Court by Orlando attorney Jill Hampton. The suits name Jay Swan of Hazelwood Drive, Zephyrhills; Michael Mullenax of Sutters Mill Road, New Port Richey; Jim DeGrace of Foley Square, New Port Richey; and Millard Bryan, listing both a hometown of Holiday, but also an address of Ridge Road in Port Richey.
DirecTV in recent months has gotten tough with people it says pull in the company's satellite signal and unscramble it without paying. Thousands of warning letters have been mailed and more than 8,000 lawsuits filed against users of pirate equipment.
Hundreds of suits have been filed in Tampa's federal courthouse.
Defense attorneys involved in similar suits claim DirecTV is using scare tactics and doesn't have the evidence to prosecute each case.
Fort Lauderdale attorney Jonathan Yellin told the St. Petersburg Times earlier this summer DirecTV is not looking at the cases individually. In some cases, there are explanations, he said.
In Thursday's suits, the first four filed in Circuit Court in Pasco County, the company says it has spent more than $1.25-billion developing its system, including satellites orbiting at 22,000 feet above the earth. But it has also been forced to spend money developing countermeasures to defeat pirates who use counterfeit access cards that fit into receiver boxes and unscramble the company's signal.
"DirecTV's need to develop increasingly sophisticated security measures is driven by the actions of satellite television "pirates,' " the suit states.
In May 2001, according to the suit, the company obtained seizure warrants and raided companies selling pirate access cards and equipment by mail. That's where DirecTV obtained the names of people who had bought access equipment, according to the company.
According to DirecTV, all four Pasco County targets bought their equipment in the fall of 2000.
Bryan declined comment when by reached by telephone Friday; the other three people named in the suits could not be contacted. DirecTV attorney Hampton did not return calls for comment Friday.
According to the suits, DirecTV is seeking $10,000 for each unscrambling device purchased plus attorney fees and $850 in court costs.
By CHASE SQUIRES, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published September 13, 2003
Source: http://www.sptimes.com/2003/09/13/P...its_come_.shtml