Asian channels win court case against US illegal streaming providers

US pay-TV operator, Dish has won a case after the US District Court (Eastrn District of Virginia) ordered the closure of Cres TV and Shava set top boxes over unauthorised digital streaming and distribution.

The court awarded $25 million in damages to plaintiffs for unauthorised distribution of copyrighted works. They include Dish Network L.L.C., Al Jazeera Media Network, Asia TV USA Ltd., B4U U.S., Inc., GEO USA LLC, Impress Telefilm, Inc., MBC FZ LLC, MSM Asia Ltd., Soundview Broadcasting LLC, Soundview ATN LLC, Star India Private Ltd. and Viacom18 Media Private Limited.

“Perpetrators of pirate TV services think they can get away with it, but as this ruling proves, it’s only a matter of time before the law puts an end to illegal streaming schemes,” Jaideep Janakiram, SVP International Business-Head of the Americas at Sony, whose subsidiary MSM Asia Ltd, told MultiChannel.