The Canadian Cable Television Association and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters have reason to feel confident about their lawsuit against several alleged illegal satellite dealers in Ontario and Quebec. The organizations, along with Quebec’s Videotron, have been aided in their cause by a recent pre-trial ruling by Judge Judith Snider ordering the seizure of satellite reception equipment and access cards from certain defendants.

The June 27 decision made CCTA president and CEO Janet Yale very happy.

‘I think it really bodes well for our enforcement initiative,’ says Yale. ‘It was a clear decision by the judge and gives us reason to be hopeful that we can use this as a cookie cutter and see if we can do other equipment seizures against other dealers by using the same approach.’

According to a release issued by the CCTA and CAB, Judge Snider justified her ruling by saying, ‘the public interest must be weighed along with the interest of the parties…the public has an interest in maintaining the integrity of the Canadian broadcasting system.’

Yale says the message sent by the judge should be as loud and clear as satellite reception to other dealers of black-market satellite gear.

‘This order may actually encourage some other dealers to just give up,’ says Yale. ‘I’m hoping that the dealers who are subject to these orders will realize once the equipment is seized it’s game over and they should settle the litigation rather than continue to pursue it. The judge made it clear that [we] had a really good case, which tends to indicate that if it goes to trial we’re likely to win.’

She says the CCTA and CAB will not tire in their cause and the associations, given the success of this particular litigation, may use the anti-signal theft momentum to go after dealers in other parts of the country.

One of the defendants subject to the order, Atilla Gyurko of Thornhill, ON, says Judge Snider’s decision may have been based on facts that were inaccurate. He says investigators’ speculative findings that possibly weighed in on the judge’s decision could have been misconstrued as fact, but added, ‘Because it’s an ongoing case there is very little I can say.’

The trial is expected to begin in the fall.

The CCTA and CAB are both members of the Coalition Against Satellite Signal Theft.

-www.ccta.ca

-www.cab-acr.ca