Globe And Mail - 23/11/02

[Mustang5ohhh]

From Saturday's Globe and Mail ( A Bell owned newspaper)


Montreal — Federal authorities are not doing enough to address the alarming growth in the illegal use of satellite television signals, says a broad coalition of TV broadcasters, distributors and artists.

The Canadian broadcasting system is losing an estimated $400-million a year to satellite services pirating and it's time police and customs officials cracked down on the crime, representatives of the Coalition Against Satellite Signal Theft said yesterday.

"We need fines and penalties that are on par with the tough punishments and enforcement in the United States," said Luc Perreault, chairman of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' committee on pirating.

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in April that federal broadcasting law prohibits Canadians from gaining access to direct-to-home satellite TV signals from providers other than Toronto-based Bell ExpressVu LP — a unit of Bell Canada — and Star Choice Communications Inc. of Calgary.

The signals come primarily from the United States, but there is also a black market in illegal "smart cards" to break into Bell ExpressVu's system, particularly in Quebec where demand is high for its French-language programming.

Independent satellite TV providers and dealers are fighting the Supreme Court decision, arguing that they have a right to broadcast U.S. TV signals under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Mr. Perreault said enforcement in Canada needs to be beefed up and fines raised to as much as $60,000 for individuals and to millions of dollars for companies, as is the case in the United States.

Under existing Canadian laws, users of so-called grey-market satellite dishes — people who pay for a U.S.-based satellite service by setting up mailing addresses south of the border, but receive the signals in their Canadian homes — face up to one year in jail, or a $5,000 fine. Firms found guilty of the same offence face a $25,000 fine.

Black-market consumers — those who buy decoders or smart cards to steal the signals without paying for them — face up to two years in jail.

But Mr. Perreault said most individual offenders get off with the equivalent of a misdemeanour.

RCMP spokesman Sergeant Paul Marsh said in an interview that the force is taking action and has opened several investigations into illegal commercial operations.

"The RCMP is taking an integrated approach to the satellite problem in conjunction with Industry Canada and the private sector," he said. "It's always been on our radar screen."

Officials in Solicitor-General Lawrence MacAulay's office were not available to comment yesterday.

Mr. Perreault also said his coalition wants customs laws modified to give Canada-U.S. border agents the right not only seize, but to destroy illegal satellite TV technology being brought into the country.

The coalition also unveiled a 13-week radio and television campaign to raise consumer awareness about the issue.

The campaign slogan is "Satellite Signal Theft is Illegal."

The group said a recent study conducted by Quebec polling firm Léger Marketing found that nearly one Quebecker in five — 19 per cent — knows someone who is illegally appropriating specialty channel satellite signals. The study also shows that 64 per cent of respondents believe that pirating is a trend, and that 22 per cent consider it socially acceptable.

The coalition released an Oct. 8 letter from Heritage Minister Sheila Copps to Mr. MacAulay that asks for greater enforcement.

The broadcasting industry fears its campaign "will have no impact unless police conduct searches and lay charges prior to and during the campaign," Ms. Copps says in the letter.

[To The Real King!!]

BRILLIANT. (The campaign slogan is "Satellite Signal Theft is Illegal." )

Theft of Apples or bubble gum is theft too and all theft is illegal.

But HOW did it get to be theft to BUY a subscription to a foreign service and how did it get to be theft to RECEIVE TV Programming that NOBODY has the right to collect for in Canada. Canadians have been doing that since these broadcasts started and if they cannot collect legally, then WHAT is being stolen?


Just a side issue that I doubt these people have thought of asking in their zeal to turn us into crooks.http://www.legal-rights.org/images/ttrk.gif

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Thanks & Good Luck,

To The REAL King!!
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[Andrew8468]

The article was published today (Nov 23) and says McAuley is the Solicitor-General? Didn't he resign and was replaced by another MP from PEI?

[steeve99]

Yeah Andrew, but they are refering to a letter from Craps that was sent on Oct 8th. He did'nt resign until early Nov. I think. Around the 2nd or third I believe.

Steeve

[dgr81]

CRTC called to act on signal piracy

By BERTRAND MAROTTE
The Globe and Mail
Friday, November 22, 2002

MONTREAL - Canada's cable television companies have asked the federal broadcast regulator to call a public hearing into rival Bell ExpressVu LP's alleged failure to put a stop to growing piracy of its satellite-TV services.

Janet Yale, head of the Canadian Cable Television Association, says in an Oct. 28 letter to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission that "theft of Bell ExpressVu service undermines the Canadian broadcasting system" by depriving television programmers, producers and distributors of revenues and license fees.

Ms. Yale alleges that theft of satellite signals is no longer limited to unauthorized U.S. satellite services — the so-called black and grey markets that Bell ExpressVu and others have been fighting — but now extends to Bell ExpressVu's services, particularly those in Quebec, where French-language programming not available on U.S. satellites is provided.

"The pirate community and the technology it employs to hack the Bell ExpressVu conditional access system have evolved significantly since Bell ExpressVu first launched," Ms. Yale contends.

"Most important is the fact that Bell ExpressVu has apparently exhausted its ability to out-manoeuvre the pirate community," she says.

Bernard Courtois, executive counsel at Bell ExpressVu parents BCE Inc. and Bell Canada, said it's unfair to single out Bell ExpressVu and that the cable-TV industry's attack appears to be partly motivated by an unwillingness to accept the arrival of a new competitor on the block.

"The cable companies have still not accepted the very existence of competition in the form of satellite television," he said.

He said Bell ExpressVu is taking the necessary measures to combat piracy and that the situation is far from being one over which it has lost control.

He would not say what those measures are.

Of far greater concern than piracy of Bell ExpressVu's signal are the black and grey markets in U.S. signals, as well as cable-TV piracy, he added.

He also said that Bell ExpressVu's satellite-TV rival StarChoice has not been singled out because it's owned by a cable company, Shaw Communications Inc.

In her letter, addressed to CRTC secretary-general Diane Rhéaume, Ms. Yale calls for quick action.

"This is not an industry-wide problem but a very specific problem that is particular to Bell ExpressVu because of the technology it has adopted. The problem is real and as such must be urgently addressed."

She adds that BCE may not want to cough up the necessary capital to fix the problem, involving expensive decoder equipment and so-called smart cards.

"From a purely corporate perspective, BCE may not consider that the allocation of more capital to Bell ExpressVu justifies the return," she says in her letter.

CRTC spokesman Denis Carmel said the agency has not yet decided whether to call a public hearing on the matter before Bell ExpressVu licence renewal hearings in the spring.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/GIS.Servlets.TVGAMArticleHTMLTemplate/A/20021122/22_gam_crtc?tf=TV/TVFront_fullstory.html&cf=TV/config-TVFrontLayout1&slug=22_gam_crtc&date=20021122&archive=TV&site=TVFront

[gunsmoke2]

I don't know how many times I have said that ExpressVu does nothing about their piracy problem.


They seem to have the resources to go after US piracy but close their eyes to theft of their signal.


Its good to see them fighting amongst each other



GS2

[To The Real King!!]

Hi Guys,

Its called "MARKET SHARE" and has been used by satellite companies from GI on. Get the customers now as cheaply as possible and deal with any problems once you have won the battle for market share and have lots of profit to throw at the problem. But for now, GET THE CUSTOMERS any way you can. Piracy HELPS clearly in this marketing plan, used by the biggest in virtually all countries.

Bell ExpressVu does nothing about their piracy which is rampant here is Quebec and possibly elsewhere. And if they ARE doing something, it sure does not show.

But they have lots of funds to go after people viewing the American signals whether they pay or not. They call buying the American programming Grey-market as THEFT and receiving that programming that nobody has any right to collect for since its not authorized here, as theft as well.

But if nobody is allowed to collect for that , who is being stolen from? Can you actually steal something that cannot be sold or collected for and uses the public airwaves against Canadian law.. That is an interesting proposition for the courts when a 327 case comes before them. Canadians have been receiving American signals since signals were first broadcast many years ago.

It must be wonderful to have a business without competition from the primary companies in North America.

Imagine any other business that did NOT have to compete with the American big Boys but I cannot think of a single one. All Canadian companies except BEV have to compete on the open market every day and this means facing competition from the Big American companies no matter what business you are in (except the government protected BEV). If it is to support the Canadian film industry then why not bar American films in theaters and movie rental stores? Reason, because thats not the REAL reason for the prohibition at all.

I am sure Canadian Magazines would have a field day if American magazines were not sold here. Or imagine how well Canadian Film makers would do if theatres were NOT allowed to carry American films. This goes for ANY business except the broadcasting industry. Even though they were YEARS late to the market. It seems to me that our country is built on COMPETITION and when one company becomes the exception to the rule, they have a field dayhttp://www.legal-rights.org/images/ttrk.gif

http://www.legal-rights.org/images/ttrkblack.gif

Thanks & Good Luck,

To The REAL King!!
http://www.legal-rights.org/images/rotate_rib.gif

Freedom has nothing to fear from the truth!
http://www.legal-rights.org/images/satelliterights.gif
http://www.legal-rights.org/images/freedomblack.gif
<a href="http://www.legal-rights.org/dtv/classaction.html" target=blank> <img src="http://www.legal-rights.org/images/classaction.gif"></a>


Our Deepest Condolences one year later too (http://www.legal-rights.org/condolences.html) <-- Click here Please

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Por favor dona para la BATALLA EN LA SUPREMA CORTE (http://www.legal-rights.org/donation.html)<-- Haz Click aqui!

[Dean_M_Love]

Well, it actually is not about protecting Bell per se, but that is the end result, in fact it is about protecting the cable industry, which is the ultimate goal of the CRTC.

How so?

Simple. CRTC regulations pertaining to satellite severely restrict any licensed satellite provider to the extent that they operate little more than "cable from the sky", which is exactly what the CRTC and the cable companies want. This way there is no serious threat the the cable monopoly.

If you were around in the late '80s and early '90s you no doubt heard the term "death star" satellites being bandied about by the media. This was a term coined by the Canadian Cable monopolies out of total fear over rumours of a small dish high powered satellite provider being started.

This ultimately turned out to be DTV.

This is nothing more than an open admission by the cable industry that they know they have an inferior product and cannot compete.

Why is it that American cable companies don't have the same fears of DTV that the Canadian ones do or did?

Simple.

The CRTC restriction imposed on the Canadian companies dictating what services they can and cannot offer etc. etc. So the Canadian cable interests (backed by Canadian programmers, such as Lucifer Haave of SuperChannel) lobbied Parliament and the CRTC to ensure that any satellite available in Canada would also be subject to the same draconian regulations they were.

I guess it's only fair.

The real answer here is to de-regulate the cable industry as well as satellite, allow services such as ESPN and CMTV and HBO into this country, and then let the market decide.

But Bell and Ted Rogers and the like have obviously so lined the liberal pockets that there is little chance of that ever happening any time soon.

I notice that you can now go ONLINE and rent first run movies directly from the studios. This measure intended to curb online piracy of movies.

This is a very interesting paradox, because the CRTC has already decided they will not regulate the Internet (the truth is the CANNOT regulate it, but rather than admit that, they simply said its not necessary).

So what happens when HBO.COM will let you log in and pay $5.99 for 24 hours of HBO?

An interesting sidenote to this is that doing so could arguably not violate their geographical restrictions imposed by their agreements with the MPAA as to where they can distribute, if you applied the same logic as is done to online gambling, that it is where the SERVER is located, not the CLIENT that determines jurisdiction.

It certainly is entertaining to now see the Cable companies pointing fingers at ExpressVu's piracy problems. I wonder how long it will take them to figure out that it was NDS who actually allowed that piracy to take place by dumping the Echostar technology and giving it to their in-house piracy team in order to undermine Nagrastar. And how long it will take them to realize that the same Lawyer who represents ExpressVu also represents NDS. Not to mention of course ExpressVu selling all that 'illegal' equipment back into Canada time and time again. Geez, ExpressVu is starting to sound an awful lot like NDS!

That infighting is nothing short of great, I am sure they watch very closely all the infighting that goes on on this side of the industry and enjoy watching it, as it undermines the cause. So to will there infighting undermine their cause. Divide and conquer, so goes the old line.

[sugar ray]

NO disrespect to you guys out in the eastern part of canada. BUT WHY are they being pecker heads there? and NOT so much here in western canada?

these constant news articles are countiniously coming from eastern news papers. NOT really much is mentioned about this in our western major newspapers.

must be because the big-house is in the easet?

T.T.R.K.: as always you hit the nail right on the head

BRILLIANT.

Theft of Apples or bubble gum is theft too and all theft is illegal.

But HOW did it get to be theft to BUY a subscription to a foreign service and how did it get to be theft to RECEIVE TV Programming that NOBODY has the right to collect for in Canada. Canadians have been doing that since these broadcasts started and if they cannot collect legally, then WHAT is being stolen?


Just a side issue that I dount these people have thought of asking in their zeal to turn us into crooks.




at any rate, the SOONER our case is heard the better. do you figure COPPS and company are a little nerveous about the outcome of the ruling? they seem to be really pushing this theft issue on the public hard! it's like they are brain washing canadian people.

"YES we know signal theft is illegal, COPPS can't get it through her UGLY melon that were NOT fighting for signal theft to be legal in canada. were fighting for the right of choice. the right to subscribe to foreign signals"

BUT............i guess when your slow in the mind, it takes you a while to grasp these things!

just think, WE voted these people in! we should be ashamed of ourselves

[gunsmoke2]

Ted Rodgers was known as the biggest Pirate when he help himself to US signals and pumped them into his cable network. Ted of course did NOT pay for the signals.



GS2

[Dean_M_Love]

Well of course it's not theft when it is CRTC sanctioned, just like taking US signals and injecting your OWN commercials overtop of the US commercials....and getting paid for it!

Kind of undermines the prospect that the original broadcaster pays for the programming with advertising revenues when a potential 20+ millions sets of eyeballs are denied seeing them....

[gunsmoke2]

In the 1960s and 1970s, when Mr. Rogers was building his TV neighbourhood, he didn't hesitate to pluck U.S. TV signals from the air and stuff them into his cable pipes, bringing American culture to the masses. He did not, of course, pay for them. Canada's broadcast regulator, the CRTC, gave its tacit approval to the rip-off plan and, at one point, even allowed Rogers to insert Canadian ads into the programming he lifted (the Supreme Court of Canada ended this privilege in 1978). Rogers got a free ride until 1990, when, in negotiations related to the Canada-U.S. Free-Trade Agreement, Canadian cable companies agreed to pay royalties to the broadcasters.



I guess you can influence the CRTC.



GS2

[Dean_M_Love]

Oh of course if you are one of the 'chosen ones' they will bow to your whims....and turn a blind eye to your crimes...

[bill41]

Patronage and kickbacks to all the members and polititians that help out thier corporate buddies....this will go on until there is parliamentary reform or at the least if Canada ever becomes the 51st state!!!

[Electraglide]

If Canada ever becomes the 51 state(lol:R ) You guys "aint see nuthin yet"

The US is run by large companies and lobbyists. Every year that goes by, the avarage citizen looses more and more of their rights and freedoms. It is the land of "money talks". If you have enough money, a really good lawyer and alot of connections, you can get something passed that suits your interests. LOL:gg

[Mechanic]

That's so very true, we have the best government, MONEY CAN BUY!