Dish sues Chinese streaming service for piracy

Satellite broadcaster Dish Network is taking the fight against piracy to China.

In a lawsuit filed in California federal court last week, Dish claims that Chinese companies that produce the set-top TV unit TVpad are infringing on copyrights by giving users access to illegal streams of a slew of programs produced by China Central Television and Hong Kong's Television Broadcasts Limited, some of which Dish distributes in the U.S.

According to the complaint, "[The defendants], acting in concert with a common purpose and scheme, have set up a pirate broadcasting network that, without permission and without compensation to Plaintiffs, brazenly captures entire CCTV and TVB television channels and video-on-demand programming from Asia and streams that programming over the Internet to United States users of the TVpad device, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week."

TVpad streams Chinese television content, and also offers programming from HBO, BBC, CNN and others.

TVpad operates through a peer-to-peer network, not unlike popular torrent service providers such as BitTorrent. However, instead of providing a file for sharing, TVpad streams video content, which users then retransmit to others on the network. As with cases involving BitTorrent and other torrent services, this means that the defendants do not only include the company that created TVpad. The lawsuit may also hold customers potentially liable for secondary copyright infringement.

The companies behind TVpad claim that their device is "neutral" like a personal computer, and that they cannot be held accountable for whatever illegal activities a consumer might conduct via the device.

Dish, alongside Chinese broadcasters, is suing for  copyright infringement, secondary copyright infringement, trademark infringement and violations of California unfair business practices laws.

If you believe your business is a victim of copyright infringement, contact a small business attorney today to discuss your litigation options.

Categorised in: Intellectual Property Law

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