FrostedGlass
November 28th, 2002, 12:38 PM
Quebecor complains of satellite piracy
By BERTRAND MAROTTE
Thursday, November 28, 2002 – Print Edition, Page B2
MONTREAL -- Quebecor Media Inc. is complaining to the federal broadcast regulator about rival BCE Inc.'s satellite television provider, citing a survey it commissioned that estimated about 19 per cent of Bell ExpressVu LP's satellite dish owners in Quebec are pirating the service.
In a letter being sent to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, Quebecor Media says Bell ExpressVu is not doing enough to combat the pirating of its signals.
It cites a recent survey conducted by Léger Marketing for Quebecor Media that estimates there are 105,000 pirated satellite systems in use in Quebec and that 55 per cent -- or 57,750 -- are Bell ExpressVu dishes, about 19 per cent of the total Bell ExpressVu systems in the province.
Black-market consumers use smart cards or decoders to steal satellite TV signals without paying a subscription fee.
Quebecor Media, a unit of Montreal-based Quebecor Inc., says in the letter that it is also providing the CRTC with proof of the extent of the problem and Bell ExpressVu's alleged unwillingness to correct it.
It refers to clandestine videotapes that it alleges show Bell ExpressVu dealers in Quebec indicating to buyers what Internet sites they can visit to get access to "smart cards" to hack into the system and receive the signals illegally.
Bernard Courtois, executive counsel to BCE and subsidiary Bell Canada, said yesterday he cannot comment directly on details of the survey until he sees them. But he said Bell ExpressVu "is very interested in reducing pirating of its service."
He added that pirating of U.S. services via illegal receivers, as well as cable pirating, are greater problems than the theft of Canadian satellite signals.
Domestic satellite signal pirating is a "much smaller problem," he said.
Quebecor Media claims in the letter that only about 1.5 per cent of homes receiving the signal from its cable unit, Vidéotron Ltée, are getting it illegally.
But Mr. Courtois countered that the number for pirating of Vidéotron's services is at least 3 per cent, if not higher.
Quebecor Media also says in the letter that it conducted a representative Quebec-wide survey in October of 1,000 houses with Bell ExpressVu dishes and asked Bell ExpressVu to disclose what percentage of those are registered customers.
Any discrepancies between the two would be a good indicator of how many users are pirating signals, the letter says.
But Quebecor Media claims Bell ExpressVu has yet to respond to the request.
Mr. Courtois said the method proposed is too crude and unreliable.
By BERTRAND MAROTTE
Thursday, November 28, 2002 – Print Edition, Page B2
MONTREAL -- Quebecor Media Inc. is complaining to the federal broadcast regulator about rival BCE Inc.'s satellite television provider, citing a survey it commissioned that estimated about 19 per cent of Bell ExpressVu LP's satellite dish owners in Quebec are pirating the service.
In a letter being sent to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, Quebecor Media says Bell ExpressVu is not doing enough to combat the pirating of its signals.
It cites a recent survey conducted by Léger Marketing for Quebecor Media that estimates there are 105,000 pirated satellite systems in use in Quebec and that 55 per cent -- or 57,750 -- are Bell ExpressVu dishes, about 19 per cent of the total Bell ExpressVu systems in the province.
Black-market consumers use smart cards or decoders to steal satellite TV signals without paying a subscription fee.
Quebecor Media, a unit of Montreal-based Quebecor Inc., says in the letter that it is also providing the CRTC with proof of the extent of the problem and Bell ExpressVu's alleged unwillingness to correct it.
It refers to clandestine videotapes that it alleges show Bell ExpressVu dealers in Quebec indicating to buyers what Internet sites they can visit to get access to "smart cards" to hack into the system and receive the signals illegally.
Bernard Courtois, executive counsel to BCE and subsidiary Bell Canada, said yesterday he cannot comment directly on details of the survey until he sees them. But he said Bell ExpressVu "is very interested in reducing pirating of its service."
He added that pirating of U.S. services via illegal receivers, as well as cable pirating, are greater problems than the theft of Canadian satellite signals.
Domestic satellite signal pirating is a "much smaller problem," he said.
Quebecor Media claims in the letter that only about 1.5 per cent of homes receiving the signal from its cable unit, Vidéotron Ltée, are getting it illegally.
But Mr. Courtois countered that the number for pirating of Vidéotron's services is at least 3 per cent, if not higher.
Quebecor Media also says in the letter that it conducted a representative Quebec-wide survey in October of 1,000 houses with Bell ExpressVu dishes and asked Bell ExpressVu to disclose what percentage of those are registered customers.
Any discrepancies between the two would be a good indicator of how many users are pirating signals, the letter says.
But Quebecor Media claims Bell ExpressVu has yet to respond to the request.
Mr. Courtois said the method proposed is too crude and unreliable.