RISSLER SAYS DIRECTV IS EFFECTIVE IN DETERRING SIGNAL PIRACY
Eleven civil seizure warrants were issued to suspects in 6 states last week and DirecTV’s signal integrity group recovered “substantial amount” of illegal devices in raids as company continued to put further emphasis on its civil litigation strategy. DirecTV has significantly increased its enforcement efforts, making more than 60 criminal raids this year, but also has watched number of cases increase, Signals Integrity for DirecTV Pres. Larry Rissler said. DirecTV used civil seizure authority in at least 20 cases this year, he said. Search warrants were executed 3 times this year, resulting in recovery of $4.6 million in illegal devices, he said.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
Rissler, former FBI agent, heads group of 10 full-time staff. DirecTV also employs network of private investigators, uses outside counsel and tasks its engineers to analyze different devices in order to prepare electronic countermeasures to combat illegal pirate equipment. DirecTV coordinates many of its investigative efforts with agencies such as FBI, U.S. Secret service and U.S. Customs, as well as other state and local authorities.
DirecTV had specifically targeted high-volume distributors of illegal equipment in initial stages of signal integrity group’s efforts. Last May, it began its End-User project to identify and notify individual users of illegal equipment. Rissler said several thousand demand letters had been sent to individuals against whom company said it had evidence. Many people are settling, he said. One hundred lawsuits have been filed against individuals who failed to respond to letters. Rissler said Digital Millennium Copyright Act gave company right to identify end users based on customer records kept by distributors.
Physical action of hacking access card is simple now, Rissler said: “Someone with minimal technical experience can do it.” Process involves placing card in programmer, presumably purchased illegally, and downloading software into chip in access card. Electronic countermeasures are used to terminate signals gained illegally. Member of Rissler’s group purchases fraudulent cards so they can be tested by company engineers. Engineers develop software package that can differentiate between legal and hacked cards. Finally, electric message is sent through DirecTV data stream to every dish in company’s footprint, instructing cards to turn themselves off, Rissler said: “In some cases [the countermeasures] actually damage the cards.”
End users have not been major target of criminal authorities, Rissler said. DirecTV often elects to recover statutory damages in those instances, often totaling $1,000- $10,000 for each violator.