DirecTV sues Houlton businessman

BANGOR – DirecTV Inc., a California corporation offering digital satellite television programming to paying customers, has filed suit alleging signal piracy against businessmen in Houlton, Florida and New Brunswick.

In the civil lawsuit, filed a few weeks ago at U.S. District Court in Bangor, DirecTV alleges that Canadian Gordon Hutton, doing business as Blackwidowboard.com, and Neil Cowperthwaite of Houlton, owner of PAC Electronics, sell devices designed to circumvent DirecTV’s satellite encryption system and “permit unauthorized receipt of DirecTV programming.”

Charging violations of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the 1934 Communications Act and the Wiretap Act, the lawsuit seeks injunctions preventing Blackwidow board.com and PAC Electronics from selling the pirate devices. It seeks restraining orders against Hutton, Cowperthwaite and William Hare, who “is the primary provider of devices” to Hutton and Cowperthwaite, according to the lawsuit. The restraining orders would prevent further sale of the devices.

Cowperthwaite, through his Bangor attorney, Glen Porter, has filed an answer to the lawsuit denying any wrongdoing, according to Porter. Cowperthwaite, a Radio Shack franchisee, ships packages for UPS, among other duties. He knew Hutton only as a customer who brought in packages to be shipped, Porter said.

Hutton and Hare have not filed any responses yet.

DirecTV also seeks an order impounding the alleged signal theft devices, and requests they be turned over to the company.

The civil suit is one of many piracy complaints issued yearly by DirecTV, according to spokesman Robert Mercer. The corporation, located in El Segundo, Calif., is the third-largest pay-TV supplier, behind AT&T and AOL Time-Warner, Mercer said.

The corporation has an Office of Signal Integrity that searches out signal pirates and “brings them into court,” according to Mercer.

Mercer said penalties are severe.

“You’re sticking your neck way out when you decide to steal satellite TV signals. The laws are very clear on it and DirecTV takes it very seriously,” Mercer said.

In the first two quarters of 2002, the Office of Signal Integrity filed 47 criminal actions nationwide and six civil actions, including the one against Hutton, Cowperthwaite, Hare and unnamed defendants.

The lawsuit seeks an order that Hutton and Cowperthwaite “identify all John Does working in concert with them.” DirecTV wants to seize business records and freeze the assets of Cowperthwaite and Hutton pending an audit. DirecTV also wants the U.S. Marshals Service to seize money from the businesses that may be proceeds from signal piracy.

DirecTV seeks punitive and specific monetary for violations of copyright, communications and wiretap acts.