lawdawg
March 7th, 2003, 03:29 AM
After reading the post about things we can do, such as contact FTC. I sent Governor Bush an e-mail about my perceptions of DTV. The following is the e-mail and his response. Maybe the people in Florida should contact this person to see what he can do.
E-mail to Governor Bush;
Dear Govenor Bush,
I would like to bring to your attention a situation that is going on in Florida. The satellite company Direct TV has hired lawyers in Florida who are sending out letters to people who might or might not have purchased equipment on the Internet. They state that these items can only be used for illegal purposes, i.e. Stealing the satellite signal.
The problem is this, the letters boarder on extortion. They state that if the recipient does not pay a fine of $3500 they will sue them in Federal court costing the recipient of the letter more money. Not only for hiring an attorney to defend them, but according to the letter more in damages from Direct TV, possibly $10,000. It has been published that Direct TV has or is going to send out almost 100,000 of these letters, there is no way that they can sue all these people, this seems a bit frivolous.
I have personally received one of these letters and will be glad to send you a copy. The letter states that I ordered a "boot loader" from the Internet, and that they got an invoice from the company after a law enforcement raid. As all of the other letters state they want $3500, a statement saying I will not do this again, and any of the equipment I might have. I can assure you this was not ordered by myself.
If you have any questions please feel free to call me.
Sincerely,
My Name
His Response;
Thank you for your recent letter regarding the problems you have experienced with Direct TV. I understand concern and appreciate the opportunity to respond.
To better assist you, I am sharing your comments with Charles Bronson,
Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. If you wish to call his office, the toll-free telephone number is 1-800-435-7352.
The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services attempts to mediate disputes. Sometimes these attempts are successful; other times people must turn to the courts for resolution.
Thank you again for writing. I hope this problem can be resolved to your satisfaction.
Sincerely,
Jeb Bush
JB/hrn
cc/enc: The Honorable Charles Bronson, Commissioner
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
The Mayo Building
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0800
850/488-2221
In state 1-800-435-735
E-mail to Governor Bush;
Dear Govenor Bush,
I would like to bring to your attention a situation that is going on in Florida. The satellite company Direct TV has hired lawyers in Florida who are sending out letters to people who might or might not have purchased equipment on the Internet. They state that these items can only be used for illegal purposes, i.e. Stealing the satellite signal.
The problem is this, the letters boarder on extortion. They state that if the recipient does not pay a fine of $3500 they will sue them in Federal court costing the recipient of the letter more money. Not only for hiring an attorney to defend them, but according to the letter more in damages from Direct TV, possibly $10,000. It has been published that Direct TV has or is going to send out almost 100,000 of these letters, there is no way that they can sue all these people, this seems a bit frivolous.
I have personally received one of these letters and will be glad to send you a copy. The letter states that I ordered a "boot loader" from the Internet, and that they got an invoice from the company after a law enforcement raid. As all of the other letters state they want $3500, a statement saying I will not do this again, and any of the equipment I might have. I can assure you this was not ordered by myself.
If you have any questions please feel free to call me.
Sincerely,
My Name
His Response;
Thank you for your recent letter regarding the problems you have experienced with Direct TV. I understand concern and appreciate the opportunity to respond.
To better assist you, I am sharing your comments with Charles Bronson,
Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. If you wish to call his office, the toll-free telephone number is 1-800-435-7352.
The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services attempts to mediate disputes. Sometimes these attempts are successful; other times people must turn to the courts for resolution.
Thank you again for writing. I hope this problem can be resolved to your satisfaction.
Sincerely,
Jeb Bush
JB/hrn
cc/enc: The Honorable Charles Bronson, Commissioner
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
The Mayo Building
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0800
850/488-2221
In state 1-800-435-735