Three-month sting by office of Ariz. Attorney Gen. and Maricopa C...
Three-month sting by office of Ariz. Attorney Gen. and Maricopa County Sheriff resulted in 12 arrests for alleged pirating of satellite TV signals and selling illegal access cards. Investigators said suspects marketed products in newspaper classified ads, fliers, Internet,…
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by word-of-mouth. Access cards from existing satellite equipment boxes were reprogrammed with special software that allowed users to receive unlimited service at no cost, law enforcement officials said. Cards were sold on black market at $100-$400 each. DirecTV spokesman said sting “underscores the importance of protecting the intellectual property rights” of DirecTV and programming affiliates. “Would-be purchasers of illegally modified access cards need to know that the unauthorized viewing of DirecTV programming is theft.” Meanwhile, DirecTV said it used its satellites to stymie “signal pirates” who used counterfeit technology to watch unauthorized programming. “We took countermeasures to black out unauthorized users,” DirecTV spokesman said.