nFusion

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has sentenced Ravin Ramkissoon d.b.a. The Digital Store, commonly known as Nfusion Canada, and his wife Roseline Ramkisson to jail sentences of four months and two months, respectively. They were found in contempt of civil seizure (Anton Piller) Orders obtained by EchoStar, NagraStar and Bell TV in December, 2009. The Ramkisoons sold and distributed nFusion and other brands of free-to-air receivers through their company stores and web sites.

The contempt findings arose out of the Ramkissoons’ refusal to grant access to parts of their business premises when the Orders were served. They also deliberately prevented the Independent Supervising Solicitor (ISS) appointed by the Court from observing Ravin Ramkissoon in order to ensure that the evidence covered by the Orders was preserved. Additionally the Court found that Ravin Ramkissoon willfully disobeyed the Orders by removing hard drives from computers in an attempt to prevent data from being copied by the Plaintiffs.

In sentencing the Ramkissoons to jail terms, Justice Cumming stated that the Ramkissoons’ contempt was “deliberate, blatant and willful” and that having been served with civil search orders on a prior occasion, they were knowledgeable as to what was required of them in preserving relevant evidence. In awarding the Plaintiffs their legal costs in the amount of $265,887.12, Justice Cumming noted that while the costs were considerable, they were the direct result of the contemptuous actions of the Ramkissoons. These sentences represent a significant victory for the Plaintiffs in their continuing efforts to prevent satellite pay-TV piracy in Canada and the United States.