DirecTV Defense

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Over the past several years, satellite TV giant DirecTV has sent letters to an estimated 170,000 individuals nationwide, accusing them of purchasing "illegal signal theft equipment" and "pirate access devices" and threatening to haul them into court for stealing DirecTV. The letter tells the unlucky recipients that the prospect of a pricey legal battle will go away if they pay up, to the tune of $3,500 in most cases. While some of these devices, including bootloaders, unloopers, and blockers, are often pre-configured to pirate DirecTV's signal, DirecTV often lacks any proof that the recipients of the letters actually used them to intercepted DirecTVÕs signal. Instead, all DirecTV knows is that they may have merely possessed smart card technology. DirecTVÕs campaign began with a series of raids on Internet Web sites and mail-order sellers that marketed certain of these devices for use in pirating DirecTV. Armed with Digital Millennium Copyright Act , DirecTV paid visits to vendors like Whiteviper, took over their Web sites , and went home with their customer records. Next, groups of DirecTV enforcers with euphemistic names such as the "End User Development Group" started sending threat letters and staffing the call center. The word to recipients, whether guilty or not, was pay now, or pay a lot more later in court -- possibly up to $100,000. While DirecTV has now agreed to investigate legitimate claims of innocence, it is still sending out demand letters at an unprecedented rate. DirecTV has also been making good on its threats to sue, even against people who expressly explained to DirecTV the legitimate uses they were pursuing, such as scientific research or home-brewed security systems. Undeterred, the company has brought nearly 24,000 lawsuits in federal district courts across the country. In its letters, DirecTV often makes a legal leap that we think is unjustified and dangerous: that purchasing technology with a possible illegal use (intercepting DirecTVÕs signal) means you must be breaking the law by actually intercepting the signal. This "guilty until proven innocent" campaign has presented a tough call for all the non-pirates targeted by DirecTV: Pay thousands of dollars to stop DirecTVÕs threats or face a long and expensive legal battle to prove you are innocent. This choice is made even more difficult by the fact that only DirecTV gets its attorneys fees when it wins in court - innocent defendants who win their cases get nothing. There is no doubt that satellite signal theft is a crime. And while DIRECTV has a right to pursue its claims against those using these devices to intercept their its signal, when innocent people end up paying for crimes they didn't commit, something is wrong. By most reports, DirecTV has talked plenty of people into settling, including some who never stole a second of signal. But so far, this Goliath hasn't had more than a handful of wins against innocent end users in court. It may be wise for people whoÕve been breaking the law to settle out of court, but for the innocent purchasers, the call is a much closer and tougher one to make.

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