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Over 10’000 “Probox” FTA piracy devices have been destroyed in Uruguay on February 28, as a result of a legal procedure initiated in 2010 for signal theft and copyright infringement, which resulted in the seizure of the FTA devices and a destruction order issued by the Court in December 2012. 

While destructions of similar FTA piracy devices took place in the recent years, this is the most massive destruction of such devices that took place in Latam.

The Alianza contra Piratería de Televisión Paga (the “Alianza”) is a group of content providers, pay-tv broadcasters and technology providers aiming at combatting FTA (Free to Air) piracy throughout Latin America (see www.alianza.tv).

alianza.tv

On October 11, 2012 the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, Honorable M. James Lorenz, issued an order denying Sonicview‘s last attempt to challenge the final judgment entered against them and awarding DISH Network and NagraStar over $64,000,000.00 in damages.  As previously reported, the Federal District Court granted DISH Network and NagraStar‘s motion for summary judgment against the Sonicview corporate and individual defendants on May 31, 2012.  In that order, the Court found ruled that Sonicview receivers and various add-on devices distributed by the Defendants violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) as well as the Federal Communications Act (“FCA”) because they were primarily designed and intended for use in facilitating satellite television piracy.  In an effort to seek relief from that Order, the Sonicview Defendants filed various motions to reconsider, set aside or clarify the final judgment entered against them or, alternatively, for a new trial.  The Court’s October 11, 2012 Order denied each of those motions, and an earlier Order dated September 19, 2012 similarly denied Defendant Courtney Bernard’s motion challenging the judgment against him in an additional amount of approximately $1,000,000.00.  Bernard and his brother were distributors of the Sonicview products at issue in the litigation.  DISH Network and NagraStar will aggressively pursue the enforcement of the judgment and seizure of assets of the Sonicview Defendants, as well as enforcement of the Court’s permanent injunction that was issued along with the May 31, 2012 final judgment.