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'Grey' satellite dishes illegal: top court
CTVNEWS.com Staff
Fri. Apr. 26 2002 10:11 AM
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday that so-called "grey market" satellite dishes that pick up foreign-based satellite signals break a federal broadcasting law.
The judgment is a victory for Canadian satellite providers, such as Bell ExpressVu, and will likely lead to an eventual ban on the dishes owned by almost half a million Canadian homes.
The court ruled in a 7-0 ruling Friday that the U.S.-based satellite providers violate the Radiocommunication Act that outlaws unauthorized decoding of an encrypted signal.
But the court left it up to the providers to make a case in court that the law violates freedom of communication, guaranteed under the Charter of Rights.
The "grey market" providers sell American satellite TV services and decoder equipment directly to Canadians. Bill McKenzie Bell ExpressVu told CTV's Mike Duffy his company estimates that the providers take away about $500 million a year from Canadian distributors.
The main defendant in the case was a company called Can-Am Satellites. The company supplies its customers with a U.S. address, and with other services, so the customer can subscribe and pay for programming that originates from U.S. DTH broadcasters.
Bell ExpressVu argued that Can-Am's activities interfere with its business, since Can-Am customers are unlikely to subscribe to Bell ExpressVu's service.
Can-Am owner Richard Rex maintains his company is doing nothing wrong.
"Bell has already wreaked havoc on my business and the expense to continually fight them is beyond my means," Rex said in December, when Bell announced it would appeal a lower court ruling to the Supreme Court.
CTVNEWS.com Staff
Fri. Apr. 26 2002 10:11 AM
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday that so-called "grey market" satellite dishes that pick up foreign-based satellite signals break a federal broadcasting law.
The judgment is a victory for Canadian satellite providers, such as Bell ExpressVu, and will likely lead to an eventual ban on the dishes owned by almost half a million Canadian homes.
The court ruled in a 7-0 ruling Friday that the U.S.-based satellite providers violate the Radiocommunication Act that outlaws unauthorized decoding of an encrypted signal.
But the court left it up to the providers to make a case in court that the law violates freedom of communication, guaranteed under the Charter of Rights.
The "grey market" providers sell American satellite TV services and decoder equipment directly to Canadians. Bill McKenzie Bell ExpressVu told CTV's Mike Duffy his company estimates that the providers take away about $500 million a year from Canadian distributors.
The main defendant in the case was a company called Can-Am Satellites. The company supplies its customers with a U.S. address, and with other services, so the customer can subscribe and pay for programming that originates from U.S. DTH broadcasters.
Bell ExpressVu argued that Can-Am's activities interfere with its business, since Can-Am customers are unlikely to subscribe to Bell ExpressVu's service.
Can-Am owner Richard Rex maintains his company is doing nothing wrong.
"Bell has already wreaked havoc on my business and the expense to continually fight them is beyond my means," Rex said in December, when Bell announced it would appeal a lower court ruling to the Supreme Court.