Press release: Court awards dish network, echostar and nagrastar $51 million in anti-

[Jason Nipp]

COURT AWARDS DISH NETWORK®, ECHOSTAR AND NAGRASTAR $51 MILLION IN ANTI-PIRACY CASE


Englewood, Colo., Jan. 11, 2010 – Today, DISH Network L.L.C., EchoStar Technologies L.L.C. and NagraStar scored another important anti-piracy victory. A Florida federal court issued a $51 million dollar judgment against Robert Ward, who posted software on the Internet that allowed individuals to illegally receive DISH Network programming using Free-To-Air receivers.
In the summary judgment decision, the court made two significant holdings that will strengthen the companies' ability to pursue pirates in the future. The court held that the posting of pirate software constitutes a violation of the Federal Communications Act, and that statutory damages should be calculated based on how many individuals downloaded the pirate software.
"This is a significant victory in our effort to eradicate piracy of the DISH Network system. We thank the court for its well-reasoned analysis," said Pascal Lenoir, CEO of NagraStar.

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About DISH Network
DISH Network L.L.C., a subsidiary of DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH), provides more than 14 million satellite TV customers, as of Dec. 10, 2009, with the highest quality programming and technology at the best value, including the lowest all-digital price nationwide. Customers have access to hundreds of video and audio channels, the most HD channels, the most international channels, state-of-the-art interactive TV applications, and award-winning HD and DVR technology including 1080p Video on Demand and the ViP® 722 HD DVR, a CNET and PC Magazine “Editors’ Choice.” DISH Network Corporation is included in the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and is a Fortune 250 company. Visit www.dishnetwork.com (http://www.dishnetwork.com/), follow on Twitter, @dishnetwork (www.twitter.com/dishnetwork (http://www.twitter.com/dishnetwork)), or become a Fan on Facebook, www.facebook.com/dishnetwork (http://www.facebook.com/dishnetwork).

[phrelin]

Well, it might deter others. But I don't think the defendants are going to come up with $51 million.:sure:

[tedb3rd]

Smart enough to write code. Yet dumb enough to post it on the internet.

I'm just curious as to how much of the $51 million Dish, ES, and Nagrastar are actually going to see. If I were smart enough (which I'm not) and dumb enough (which I hope I'm not) and I got caught for something like this, I could write a check for $51 million but it's gonna bounce.

[scooper]

Smart enough to write code. Yet dumb enough to post it on the internet.

I'm just curious as to how much of the $51 million Dish, ES, and Nagrastar are actually going to see. If I were smart enough (which I'm not) and dumb enough (which I hope I'm not) and I got caught for something like this, I could write a check for $51 million but it's gonna bounce.

I think you could say this about most of us :D

[Kent Taylor]

Do the banks still honor post dated checks? :)

[dewzan]

Smart enough to write code. Yet dumb enough to post it on the internet.

I'm just curious as to how much of the $51 million Dish, ES, and Nagrastar are actually going to see. If I were smart enough (which I'm not) and dumb enough (which I hope I'm not) and I got caught for something like this, I could write a check for $51 million but it's gonna bounce.

yes, and then after you serve 5-15 years in prison you can tell then your broke .....that will teach THEM, those bastards.

[79MI]

Think it's enough to bring back Voom?? lol Yeah....dead horse and all.

I'm getting bored with reruns, and the new season of Axe Men just isn't cutting it for some reason (even though the video is pretty bad a**).

I miss the clarity of Voom, was like the snow was actually coming through the screen!

[Lord Vader]

There's no way out for this guy. Filing bankruptcy won't be permitted, either, because one cannot erase debts if they were the result of fraudulent or illegal activities.

[bidger]

There's no way out for this guy. Filing bankruptcy won't be permitted, either, because one cannot erase debts if they were the result of fraudulent or illegal activities.

Agreed. But, can anyone realistically expect him to be capable of forking over $51 million? For crying out loud, if this guy could have generated that kind of income, DISH needs to hire him!

[Richard King]

Some details on the case from when it was filed:

http://sandiego.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel09/sd071309a.htm
United States Attorney Karen P. Hewitt announced that Jung Kwak, 33, also known as “Mr. Viewsat,” of Oceanside, California, Phillip Allison, 35, also known as “thebroken,” and Robert Ward, 54, also known as “TDG” and as “thedssguy,” both of Seminole, Florida, have been charged in a previously sealed indictment handed up by a federal grand jury on July 9, 2009, with one count of Conspiracy to Violate the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. Mr. Kwak was arrested by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Friday, July 10, in San Diego. The indictment was unsealed upon his initial appearance today before United States Magistrate Judge William McCurine, Jr., in United States District Court in San Diego. Messrs. Allison and Ward were arrested in Seminole, Florida and will appear before a United States Magistrate Judge in Florida.

According to the indictment, Mr. Kwak owns and operates Viewtech, Inc., in Oceanside, California. Viewtech imports “free-to-air” or “FTA” satellite receiver boxes and sells them to the public through a network of retailers under the brand name “Viewsat.”......

millions of Viewsat FTA boxes have been sold to the public.

If a conviction of Mr. Kwak is obtained now, and similar penalties are applied to him, there may be a chance to retrieve a large portion of the fines.

Further reading reveals that all three plead guilty. This may be only the first to be sentenced.

The original complaint: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/16746405/Dish-Network-LLC-et-al-v-Ward

[phrelin]

It would be a surprise to me if Kwak has any significant assets in this country, particularly since he's in the import business. But I've been surprised frequently about how dumb even the smartest crooks can be.

[Newshawk]

I'm just curious as to how much of the $51 million Dish, ES, and Nagrastar are actually going to see.

Or if the check will be made out to TiVo! :D

[dragon342]

Or if the check will be made out to TiVo! :D

Now that wud be something! :hurah::hurah:

[dreadlk]

51 Million, how did they come up with that number !!!
How could they know how many people are unique customer downloads and even if they did, how do they know how many people really used it and for how long!

Seems like a clear case for an appeal, he could easily prove that they have no idea if the people who downloaded it used it for 1 day or 1 year and how many where actually succesful in getting it to work. They seemed to have just used some kind of Log and generated a random figure.

[Jim5506]

It should be 151 million.