Business
Bell welcomes Federal Court decision against illicit set-top box providers
Bell welcomes Federal Court decision against illicit set-top box providers Cana...
About this update from Bce Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \n \n \n Bell welcomes Federal Court decision against illicit set-top box providers\n \n \n /* Style Definitions */\nspan.prnews_span\n{\nfont-size:8pt;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\n}\na.prnews_a\n{\ncolor:blue;\n}\nli.prnews_li\n{\nfont-size:8pt;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\n}\np.prnews_p\n{\nfont-size:0.62em;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\nmargin:0in;\n}\n \n \n \n \n \n \n Canada NewsWire\n \n \n \n \n MONTRÉAL,\n \n Aug. 12, 2021\n \n /CNW Telbec/ - Bell today welcomed a ruling by the Federal Court of Canada that orders a group of set-top box retailers to shut down operations and pay close to\n \n $30 million\n \n in damages and costs for making content available without authorization and inducing Canadians to access that content illegally.\n \n \n \"Bell invests hundreds of millions of dollars every year to develop, produce, acquire and deliver great Canadian and international content over multiple platforms, but content piracy continues to undermine the entire media industry, including the work of many Canadians,\" said\n \n Wade Oosterman\n \n , President\n \n Bell Media\n \n and Vice Chair, BCE and Bell. \"By imposing stiff financial penalties on companies that enable and promote unauthorized access to content online and via set-top box add-ons, the Federal Court has sent a clear message.\"\n \n \n In its ruling, the Federal Court found that three set-top box retailers and one individual (a director with one of the retailers) had distributed, offered for sale, sold, operated and possessed equipment used or intended to enable unauthorized and illegal access to content. Noting that \"the growth of the illicit pre-loaded set-top box industry underscores the need to deter infringement\", the Court granted permanent injunctions against the retailers and ordered them to pay statutory damages totalling\n \n $29.3 million\n \n plus punitive damages and other costs.\n \n \n The Federal Court's decision released on\n \n August 10, 2021\n \n , is the direct result of legal action initiated by the media and distribution business unit of Bell and other media companies in\n \n Canada\n \n .\n \n \n The negative financial impact of TV piracy on Canadian broadcasters and distributors is in the range of\n \n $500 million\n \n to\n \n $650 million\n \n per year, affecting thousands of jobs across the in...