Steve Mehs
01-22-03, 04:20 AM
The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California dismissed most of a lawsuit concerning conditional access technology filed last September by DirecTV against NDS Group, News Corp.'s TV tech unit said late Tuesday.
According to NDS, the court dismissed claims brought by DirecTV alleging fraud, breach of warranty and violation of the Federal Communications Act. The court also dismissed the bulk of five other DirecTV claims, including those for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and statutory violations, NDS said in a statement.
Abe Peled, president and CEO at NDS, said the company is confident DirecTV's remaining claims will be dismissed "once all the facts are presented to the court."
The other claims relate to an alleged misappropriation of trade secrets. Peled said, "The evidence developed in this case will show that DirecTV's lawsuit is nothing more than an attempt to circumvent restrictions on DirecTV's future use of NDS' intellectual property and a last ditch effort to scapegoat NDS for piracy problems which in fact result from DirecTV's own gross mismanagement."
In response, DirecTV said it's disappointed with the court's ruling, but the company will continue to press its case against NDS. "Since we have not yet been served with the final order, we cannot comment on what our next legal steps will be," DirecTV said.
"It is important to point out that no decision in this litigation is expected to affect DirecTV's contractual right to control the operation and future development of its smart card, headend, and set-top box technology," the company addded. "In keeping with its commitment to protect the security of its system, DirecTV continues to transition control of its conditional access technology to its internal engineering group."
DirecTV said it expects the transition will be completed this year, as originally anticipated when it commenced the transition in April 2002.
From SkyReport (http://www.skyreport.com/skyreport/jan2003/012203.shtm#two) (Used with Permission)
According to NDS, the court dismissed claims brought by DirecTV alleging fraud, breach of warranty and violation of the Federal Communications Act. The court also dismissed the bulk of five other DirecTV claims, including those for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and statutory violations, NDS said in a statement.
Abe Peled, president and CEO at NDS, said the company is confident DirecTV's remaining claims will be dismissed "once all the facts are presented to the court."
The other claims relate to an alleged misappropriation of trade secrets. Peled said, "The evidence developed in this case will show that DirecTV's lawsuit is nothing more than an attempt to circumvent restrictions on DirecTV's future use of NDS' intellectual property and a last ditch effort to scapegoat NDS for piracy problems which in fact result from DirecTV's own gross mismanagement."
In response, DirecTV said it's disappointed with the court's ruling, but the company will continue to press its case against NDS. "Since we have not yet been served with the final order, we cannot comment on what our next legal steps will be," DirecTV said.
"It is important to point out that no decision in this litigation is expected to affect DirecTV's contractual right to control the operation and future development of its smart card, headend, and set-top box technology," the company addded. "In keeping with its commitment to protect the security of its system, DirecTV continues to transition control of its conditional access technology to its internal engineering group."
DirecTV said it expects the transition will be completed this year, as originally anticipated when it commenced the transition in April 2002.
From SkyReport (http://www.skyreport.com/skyreport/jan2003/012203.shtm#two) (Used with Permission)