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  • A number of folks have been writing or calling EFF asking what to do if they receive a letter from DirecTV when they have never pirated its signal. EFF does not give out legal advice in these circumstances and cannot represent any DirecTV defendants at this time, but there are a few things one might consider doing in this situation:

    1) Take the threat seriously. DirecTV is likely to continue to go after you if you just ignore their letters or lawsuits.
    2) Consider contacting a lawyer, preferably one with some experience in these cases and admitted in the federal court district where you live. We've compiled a list of attorneys currently taking DirecTV cases.
    3) Collect all evidence you can think of to support your innocence. If there are emails, source code, schematics, bills, receipts, or other written documents that show you did not order, receive, or use the device in the letter, you will need those to substantiate your case. Also, if you did order the device but for a different purpose, consider talking to anyone who might have witnessed such uses and could testify on your behalf.
    4) Document your use of cable or satellite systems. If you did not have a DirecTV satellite dish or set-top box during the time when you supposedly had the accused device, that will help your case.

  • For scores of people who packed a Newark courtroom yesterday, the choice boiled down to this: Pay thousands of dollars to DirecTV, or pay thousands of dollars to defense lawyers. Posted 11/24/2003

  • DirecTV suit against local man dismissed Company fails to prove computer expert owned equipment to steal satellite signal. Posted 10/24/2003

  • Whether Title III Provides a Private Cause of Action Against Manufacturers or Distrbutors of Interception Devices the Subject of Continued District Courts Disagreement. By: Joseph Metcalfe, Assistant Professor, University of Oregon School of Law. Posted 10/22/03

  • DirecTV Takes No Prisoners Officials just assume it's used for hacking. Is that fair? DirecTV enforcement chief Larry Rissler thinks so. Posted 10/22/2003

  • GSA page on Smart Card Usage promotes and has a number of examples of legitimate smart card usage. Posted 10/14/2003

  • CBS interview concerning DirecTV, CBS News posted: 10/15/2003

  • DirecTV Hacker Is First Person Convicted Under Digital Millennium Copyright Act. In what prosecutors say was the first jury conviction ever under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a Florida man was convicted in Los Angeles of selling hardware used to pirate DirecTV broadcasts. Posted 9/22/03

  • Racketeering suit filed against DirecTV, SecurityFocus, 9/3/03

  • Crackdown on 'pirates' stirs mutiny for DirecTV, New Jersey Star-Ledger, August 25, 2003.

  • DirecTV Suits Dismissed Charleston Post and Courier, August 22, 2003: A federal judge recently dismissed a lawsuit in South Carolina when DirecTV failed to show that the defendant, a computer expert, was using his smart card reader to intercept DTV's signal.

  • Satellite TV Suit Won’t Fly, Attorney Contends. swtimes.com 8/2/03: Four federal lawsuits filed by DirecTV against alleged satellite television pirates will never go to trial because the company knows it has no case, according to a California attorney.

  • DirecTV dragnet snares innocent techies, SecurityFocus, 7/17/03

  • DirecTV Sues Consumers Over Satellite Signal Theft (3.2 MB PDF), Lawyers Weekly 6/23/03: A review of DirecTV's campaign from a legal perspective.

  • DirecTV Suing Customers Directly, Miami Daily Business Review (reported on law.com), 6/17/03: DTV filed 300 suits in FL in May, bringing the nationwide total to approximately 5,000 for May 2003 and 8,700 so far. DTV spokesman Robert Mercer said the company filed the May lawsuits to beat the SOL on the May 2001 raid on Fulfillment Plus, the CA shipping facility serving many pirate sites. "Effectively, we've opened up a new front in the war on signal theft," Mercer said. Also reports DTV’s April 2003 seizure of 18 servers hosting 63 pirate sites, including Decoder News with its 23,400 subscribers, and quotes Mercer saying DTV will be pursuing end users who posted on site forums.

  • DirecTV Sues Area Residents, Morning Call Online, 5/30/03: DTV is suing hundreds of PA residents, with many of the suits filed May 23, days before the two-year SOL following the vendor raids in question expired. (links to archive search)

  • Stealing the Show, Forbes.com 5/29/03: Criticizing DTV for bungling its encryption and anti-piracy efforts and predicting Murdoch will settle the dispute with DNS and implement more robust security within 12 months.

  • Satellite Provider Gets Tough, Rockford Register, 5/27/03: 32 in Illinois.

  • DirecTV Sues 150 in Minnesota, Pioneer Press, May 25, 2003

  • Lawsuits Cite Theft of Signals; TV Firm Sues 130 People in VA, Richmond Times-Dispatch, 5/24/03: 130 Virginians summoned in 40 lawsuits. (links to archive search)

  • Signals Pirated, DirecTV Claims; Lawsuits Name Dozens in State, Star Tribune, 5/24/03: DTV has summoned more than 150 end users in Minnesota. (links to archive search)

  • DirecTV Looking to Block Utah Pirates, Salt Lake City Tribune, 5/23/03: DTV took 21 Utahns to court, bringing total summoned in state to 60+.

  • DirecTV Mole Pleads Guilty, SecurityFocus 4/24/03: Describing recent criminal case of college student who leaked DTV security documents to hacker sites.

  • Suit Accuses DirecTV of Dishing It Out; Company Answers with Anti-SLAPP Motion, National Law Journal 12/9/02: Regarding the CA class action suit.

  • From the Trenches: Armchair Pirates, Red Herring, 8/28/01: Presenting the “even good people can be bad pirates” story.

  • DirecTV Declares War on TV Pirates, Forbes.com 8/1/01: Likening DTV’s end user campaign to swatting mosquitoes with a sledgehammer.


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