Court Protects Privacy of Satellite Receiver Owners
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Gold Member FL Post Number: 2284 Registered: Jan-07 | Just wanted to pass on this information Court Protects Privacy of Satellite Receiver Owners c/p notorious......... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Court Protects Privacy of Satellite Receiver Owners September 29th, 2008 Court Protects Privacy of Satellite Receiver Owners Legal Analysis by Fred von Lohmann Last month, EFF filed an amicus brief in Echo star v. Freetech, where echo star sought the identities of every consumer who purchased a Freetech "CoolSatt" free-to-air (FTA) satellite receiver during the past five years. EFF argued that this demand, issued in discovery in a lawsuit between Echo star and Freetech, represented an unwarranted intrusion into the privacy of individual consumers. Today, the court agreed, issuing an order blocking Echo Star's subpoenas. The ruling potentially sets an important precedent, as it represents the first time a federal court has explicitly rejected a third-party subpoena on the basis of the privacy interests of nonparty consumers. Echo Star is the company behind the DISH satellite TV service. Freetech makes receivers for unencrypted, free-to-air satellite transmissions (there are many free, unencrypted satellite channels). In December 2007, Echo star sued Freetech, alleging that the Freetech CoolSatt receiver was specifically designed for after-market modification to enable unauthorized reception of DISH programming. According to Echo star, Freetech "sold thousands of these FTA Receivers to consumer pirates for the sole purpose of circumventing [Echo Star]'s Security System." In the course of discovery, Echo star sent subpoenas to the distributors of CoolSatt receivers, demanding that they hand over their customer lists, including the name, address, email address, and purchase details for every person to have purchased a CoolSatt receiver over the past 5 years. As EFF explained in its amicus brief, these subpoenas represent a serious intrusion into the privacy of legitimate purchasers of these FTA receivers. Not only would it be an intrusion to be contacted by Echo star about a device you purchased months or years ago, but other satellite TV companies have used customer lists to launch mass litigation campaigns against consumers. After Direct TV obtained similar customer lists in litigation in 2001, it sent more than 170,000 letters to individuals demanding "settlements" of $3,500. In refusing to allow Echo star to obtain the CoolSatt customer lists, the court specifically weighed Echo star's need for the information against the privacy interests of the customers whose information would be disclosed. The court *xpressed concern that "both those who purchase the FTA receivers for proper and improper purposes will be swept up in the process." The court went on to conclude that "the requests for customer lists, therefore, could lead to the perceived harassment of legitimate users and a concomitant chilling effect on the purchase and lawful use of Freetech's FTA receivers." Kudos to the court for keeping the privacy interests of nonparties in mind as commercial litigants dispatch third-party subpoenas that would otherwise carelessly intrude into the lives of individual consumers. |
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Gold Member Pluto Post Number: 1571 Registered: Sep-06 | Gracias RTAP |
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Silver Member Post Number: 409 Registered: Jul-08 | Thanks RTAP but Tooter posted the link here already earlier this morning for the actual court document and order, granting Coo*lsat aka Freetech, their motion of protection.. |
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Gold Member Quebec city, Quebec Canada Post Number: 4289 Registered: Jan-08 | Good post RTAP  |
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Silver Member Post Number: 410 Registered: Jul-08 | Tooter...Great link you provided earlier, prior to this thread. www.eff.org/files/filenode/echostar_v_freet/order%20granting%20protective%20orde r.pdf For you that don't understand, FreeTech aka Coo*lsat (CS) is being sued by Dishnet (DN) aka Echostar...Dishnet requested that 17 Coo*lsat dealers turn over ALL personal info of every person who purchased FTA receivers..Coo*lsat in turn, requested a protection order to safeguard that information, and on 9-29, that order of protection was granted to Coo*lsat by the court, thereby protecting all purchasers private info..A great victory for Freetech aka Coo*lsat and all of the FTA owners. Recently Viewtech aka Viewsat was ordered by the court to provide all private info to Dishnet, of EVERY person who sends their FTA receivers back to Viewtech , for repair work. Nalin and Plymouth both denied this court action even existed regarding Viewtech and shrugged it off as a rumor, even after copies and links to the court order were posted here by myself and others... Hoepfully the members will now see, that Dishnet is VERY serious and agressive,,and attempting the same tactics that DirecTV (DTV) used against many DTV receiver owners to obtain demand letters and settlements and civil suits with fines of over $3000 for purchases of devices that COULD POSSIBLY be used and altered for the purpose of obtaining encrypted satelite signal and hacked TV.. Also hopefully the members will see that nalin and plymouth are just argumentative wannabees and not aware of whats really going on in the DSS and FTA worlds, and listening to them to disregard these court orders as just "rumors' may bring great harm to some, especially Viewsat owners at this time.. Thanks again Tooter, great post and follow up..and good news for Coo*lsat owners..hopefully the courts will continue to follow suit as in this Freetech suit, and maintain the privacy of FTA owners.. |
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Silver Member Post Number: 411 Registered: Jul-08 | Recently Viewtech aka Viewsat was ordered by the court to provide all private info to Dishnet, of EVERY person who sends their FTA receivers back to Viewtech , for repair work. Nalin and Plymouth both denied this court action even existed regarding Viewtech and shrugged it off as a rumor, even after copies and links to the court order were posted here by myself and others... Click here to download the court document order.. |
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Gold Member FL Post Number: 2285 Registered: Jan-07 | sorry didnt see it.i should of remember rule #1 here look at all new open threads before posting lmao. |
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Gold Member FL Post Number: 2286 Registered: Jan-07 | havent been here as often as before |
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Silver Member Post Number: 413 Registered: Jul-08 | RTAP...its good you posted it...possibly many didn't see other previous post...keep it up, whenever you see something news worthy |
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