OTTAWA – In a press release on Tuesday, the Coalition Against Satellite Signal Theft (CASST) said it was pleased with the Quebec Superior Court’s recent sentencing decision of Reggie Scullion who was charged under the Criminal Code of Canada of two counts of illegal activities related to theft of satellite TV service from DirecTV.
Scullion, who pled guilty in Quebec Superior Court, must forfeit more than $4 million in cash and other property that had been seized by the government in connection with the case, with $1.1 million of the funds to be distributed to DirecTV and the remainder to Revenue Canada and other creditors.
“Scullion also received a suspended sentence of one year, and under a civil judgment obtained by DirecTV, he is permanently prohibited from engaging in activities related to theft of the DirecTV service,” says the CASST press release.
“The Coalition Against Satellite Signal Theft (CASST) is pleased to see positive court results from the on-going efforts by the RCMP to address this serious illegal activity that takes over $400 million a year from the Canadian broadcasting system,” said Pelmorex’s Luc Perreault, CASST co-chair.
“Enforcement and court actions are only part of the solution,” said the Canadian Cable Television Association’s Harris Boyd, CASST co-chair. “The federal government has to recognize the significance of these illegal activities and amend the Radiocommunication Act so that penalties available to the courts in such cases reflect the severity of the crime.”
“The issue of satellite signal theft requires a long term solution, including legislation that will act as a real deterrent and stop dealers from getting involved in this illegal activity,” said Chris Frank, of Bell ExpressVu, another CASST co-chair.
CASST is made up of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association, Canadian Film and Television Production Association, Canadian Television Fund, Canadian Motion Picture Distribution Association and their members. It also includes A&E Television Networks, Bell ExpressVu, CBC/Radio-Canada, Canadian Motion Pictures Distributors Association – Anti-Piracy Operations, Canadian Retransmission Collective, Directors Guild of Canada, DIRECTV, North American Broadcasters Association, Society of Composers, Authors, Music Publishers of Canada, Star Choice and Vidéotron Ltée.
