OTTAWA – BCE, Rogers and Videotron have convinced the Federal Court to issue an interim ban on the sale of TV set top boxes pre-loaded with applications that they claim allows access to their copyrighted content.
According to a Globe and Mail report, the three big TV companies joined forces against named defendants iTVBox.net, My Electronics, Android Bros Inc., WatchNSaveNow Inc. and MtlFreeTV.com, claiming that their boxes lead to copyright infringement and contribute to the loss of television subscribers due to pirated content.
Justice Danièle Tremblay-Lamer agreed, and granted an interim injunction against the sale of the boxes pending a full trial of the issue.
“For the time being, I am satisfied that the plaintiffs have established a strong prima facie case of copyright infringement and that an injunction would prevent irreparable harm without unduly inconveniencing the defendants”, Justice Tremblay-Lamer wrote in the June 1 ruling.
